Speech
for Hon'ble Foreign Minister to be delivered on the
occasion of the inauguration of "Thai Festival
2005" at Hotel Sonargaon in Dhaka
at 1900 hrs on 16 July 2005.
Your
Excellency
Ambassador Mr. Suphat Chitranukroh
Distinguish Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to be here today for the
inaugural ceremony of "Thai Festival 2005"
organized by the Royal Thai Embassy in Dhaka, which
will provide an opportunity to the people of Bangladesh
to be aware of Thai culture and its products. This
festival also incorporates an impressive cultural
event, which took place at the Shilpakala Academy
yesterday and enjoyed by the audience.
I
am indeed happy to note that the Thai Embassy has
been taking such initiatives arranging exhibitions
in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh on various
occasions to showcase the Thai food. Thai foods are
already popular dish among the Bangladeshi food lovers.
I hope the festival will introduce more Thai delicacies
to the people of Bangladesh. Arrangement of such events
will contribute significantly to the development of
understanding and cooperation as well as enhance people-to
people contact between our two friendly countries.
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
The people of Bangladesh deeply admire the progress
made in Thailand under the dynamic leadership of Dr.
Thaksin Shinawatra. During the last three and half
years, Bangladesh-Thailand relations have reached
to a new height. It is our sincere belief that the
Bangladesh-Thailand relations will continue to gain
futher momentum during the present tenure of H.E.
Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra. In this context, we recall
the visit of Hon'ble Prime Minister to Thailand in
December 2002 and July 2004 and that of Prime Minister
Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra to Bangladesh in July 2002,
December 2002 and January 2004.
The government of Hon'ble Prime Minister Begum Khaleda
Zia has been pursuing the 'Look East' policy, where
Thailand features prominently. I am convinced that
sincere efforts on the part of both the governments
will contribute in cementing the existing ties and
progressively widening our bilateral cooperation in
the years ahead.
Excellency,
We appreciate the Thai government's decision to allow
duty concession to 229 items of Bangladeshi products
to enter the Thai market. We would like to request
the Thai government to facilitate easy access of Bangladeshi
products to the Thai market to address the present
trade imbalance. In this context, I would like to
emphasize on the need to organize more Bangladeshi
exhibitions in Thailand so that the common people
and the business community in Thailand also get a
glimpse of Bangladesh's exportable products as well
as rich culture and heritage. Bangladesh has already
participated in the "Chiang Mai One Village One
Product" fair held in 16-19 September 2004. We
are happy that Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok could
participate in the "BIMSTEC Exhibition Day"
held recently on 06 June 2005. We are also planning
to organize a Single Country Trade Fair in Bangkok
in the early part of 2006. Besides, Export Promotion
Bureau (EPB) is also considering participating in
the Bangkok International Fashion Fair and Bangkok
International Leather Fair to be held in Bangkok in
September 2005. Through these fairs and exhibition
we will have the opportunity to display our products.
We hope that the Thai government would also take some
concrete steps to enable our products to penetrate
into the Thai market.
Besides trade and commerce, Bangladesh and Thailand
is also cooperating in various sectors. Bangladesh
Government has already taken a decision for outsourcing
of management, operation and maintenance of Shah Amanat
Airport by Thai International Airways Ltd. We also
expect Thai involvement in setting up of a modern
hospital in Chittagong, setting up of eco-parks in
the selected regions and most importantly the "Dhaka
Elevated Expressway" project. Recently, the two
sides held meeting in Dhaka on 14 June 2005 to continue
to work on the project so that the financial aspects
of the project could be decided and agreed upon by
both sides. Apart from the above, the two countries
have also agreed to cooperate and collaborate in hospital
management, capacity building in Nurses' training,
tourism, hotel management and agro based industries.
Due
to the commitments of the leadership of the two countries,
we could start direct air link service between Chittagong
and Chiang Mai, which has already brought the peoples
of these twin cities more closer. The direct air-link
has opened up new avenues of opportunity for the business
communities as well as the tourists of the two countries.
All these interactions have contributed to a great
extent in fostering the friendly and cordial relations
between the two countries.
Distinguish
Guests,
Our present government attaches great importance to
social development and economic growth. We have attained
two of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
- access to safe drinking water and gender equality
in the primary education. Besides, we have embarked
up on an ambitious reform agenda recognizing the financial
sector as the backbone of the economy. Development
of the private sector remains a cornerstone of the
government's development policy and we continue to
liberalize our trade regimes and investment policies,
reduce interest rates and the cost of doing business.
We are committed to removing infrastructural bottlenecks
quickly including port facilities. We have taken all
these steps to attract foreign investments to Bangladesh.
Considering the above liberal policy and incentives
packages offered by our government, we hope that Thailand
would invest more in agro-processing and horticulture
sectors in Bangladesh. We hope that this kind of exhibition
and fairs will make headway for more interactions
among the business communities of the two countries
to find out a rewarding match-making.
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
Before I conclude, I would like to once again thank
Your Excellency for arranging the "Thai Festival
2005" from 14-24 July 2005 and providing me the
opportunity today to be present and share with you
some of my thoughts. I wish the "Thai Festival
2005" a grand success.
Thank you.
