Bangladesh and FAO sign MoU to establish “Sheikh Mujib-Bangladesh Room” at FAO Headquarters to mark “Mujib Year”
Oru Leonard
As a part of on-going celebration of 100th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib Year), a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signing ceremony took place to launch “Sheikh Mujib-Bangladesh Room” today (13 December 2021) at the Headquarters of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome. Mr. Md. Shameem Ahsan, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Italy and Permanent Representative to FAO and Mr. Qu Dongyu, Director General of FAO signed the MoU.
The signing paves the way for eventual launching of a facilitation room carrying the name of Bangabandhu and the donor country (Bangladesh) at the FAO Headquarters which will be used by the Member States for meeting and other official activities.
Organised in a hybrid format, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Md. Shahriar Alam, MP, joined virtually from Bangladesh and witnessed the ceremony. Citing the close partnership between Bangladesh and FAO for more than four decades, State Minister expressed sincere thanks to the Director General of FAO for his valuable support for signing the MoU to mark “Mujib Year”. Terming the moment as an occasion of pride and emotion since it coincides with the on-going celebration of the 50th year of independence while the country is going to celebrate its glorious Victory Day this month, Mr. Alam felt that the signing ushered in a new chapter in Bangladesh-FAO partnership.
Mr. Shameem Ahsan, Permanent Representative to FAO, in his remarks, noted that Bangladesh and FAO enjoy close partnership for almost 48 years. In this regard, he expressed deep satisfaction for recent election of Bangladesh to several executive bodies of Rome-based FAO and WFP. Bangladesh Ambassador informed that Bangladesh, for the first time, was going to host the 36th Asia Pacific FAO Regional Conference (APRC) in Dhaka from 08-11 March 2022, which is expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Director General of FAO lauded Bangladesh Prime Minister for the development journey of the country and for recent confirmation by the UN for its graduation from the LDC status under her dynamic leadership.
The Permanent Representatives of China and Thailand and the representative of Indonesia as Chairperson of the Asia Regional Group joined the event in person at the Sheikh Zayed Center of FAO while representatives from India, Malaysia and Philippines attended virtually. Senior Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs including Ambassador Mr. Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury, Secretary (West), Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Ministry of Agriculture, among others, joined the event from Bangladesh while the officials of the Mission attended in-person.
