The traders were returning to their neighbourhood after buying vegetables from the wholesale market in Manikganj’s Jaagir.
Dhaka-Washington ties broadening, deepening: Charles Rivkin
The visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs has expressed satisfaction over enhanced Dhaka-Washington ties.
Published : 13 Nov 2014, 02:51 PM
Updated : 13 Nov 2014, 02:51 PM
Ambassador Charles Rivkin met the foreign secretary Md Shahidul Alam on Thursday.
According to the foreign ministry, Rivkin said during the meeting “all indicators suggest that Bangladesh-US relations are broadening and deepening”.
The foreign secretary received him on his arrival at the ministry.
Rivkin arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday, a day later than scheduled, in his first visit after being sworn in on April 15 this year by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
He is the first non-career bilateral ambassador to lead this bureau.
According to his office, Kerry brought with him a team of business leaders to help fulfil his mandate that “economic policy is foreign policy”.
He had an hour-long discussion on Bangladesh-US relations, with an emphasis on economic and business affairs, with the secretary.
Rivkin said that Washington considered the just-concluded 3rd Partnership Dialogue between Bangladesh and the US “a great success”.
The Foreign Secretary briefed him on the Bangladesh’s prevailing political and economic stability “which ensured a steady growth and brought confidence in the business”.
He particularly mentioned the government’s steps to bolster socio-economic development.
The Secretary also congratulated Ambassador Rivkin for initiating climate change negotiation with China and said climate-vulnerable countries like Bangladesh “wants to see a positive outcome of that negotiation”.
Rivkin praised Bangladesh’s “sustained substantial growth” and said that the growth should attract US investors to Bangladesh.
He acknowledged Bangladesh’s progress in the past one and half years in ensuring workers’ rights and workplace safety, and wished that it would continue.
He also hailed Bangladesh’s diplomatic success in peacefully resolving the maritime boundary dispute with both Myanmar and India, and expressed his government’s interest in assisting Bangladesh in harnessing the marine and maritime resources.
Some contemporary global issues such as Ebola virus outbreak in some West African countries, the Middle East crisis, and regional integration also figured in the discussion, the foreign ministry said.
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