Bangladesh Ambassador to Viet Nam Samina Naz writes for Viet Nam News on the Independence & National Day of Bangladesh

Bangladesh celebrates its 51st Independence and National Day on March 26, 2022. On this glorious occasion, the nation pays its deep homage to its Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, under whose charismatic leadership the country emerged as an independent and sovereign country through a long struggle for freedom & self-determination starting from the language movement in 1948 to glorious victory after nine months of liberation war on December 16, 1971.

Following the guided path of Bangabandhu, his able daughter Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is leading the country towards progress & development & transformed Bangladesh into an economic miracle with sustained high growth during the last 13 years.

Today, Bangladesh is a “role model for other developing economies in achieving sustainable development”.

It has achieved enormous success in various areas of socio-economic development, including poverty alleviation, education, health, human resources development, female empowerment, reduction of child and maternal mortality rate, and increase of life expectancy. Per capita income has tripled over the past decade.

Under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has done a remarkable job in tackling the pandemic while keeping its economy almost at full functionality.

With a 6.94 per cent GDP growth rate and US$2,591 per capita income, the Prime Minister has been relentlessly working to turn Bangladesh into a developed country by 2041.

According to the Centre for Economics and Banking Research of London, Bangladesh is expected to be the 25th largest economy by 2035. 

Bangladesh and Viet Nam have shared a traditional friendly bilateral diplomatic relationship for 49 years now. Bangladesh and Viet Nam officially established diplomatic relations on February 11, 1973. Bangladesh was the first country in South Asia and the second in Asia (not socialist) to recognise and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level with the then Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Viet Nam.

Bangladesh and Viet Nam find resonance in both nations’ political struggle and cultural history. Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Viet Nam’s great leader Hồ Chí Minh, envisaged the dream of free people and dedicated their whole lives to realising the dream.

Therefore, both the countries’ peoples are not only bonded by shared values and culture but also by a deep commitment to carrying forward the beacon of humanity.

The Embassy of Bangladesh remained deeply committed & occupied throughout 2022, despite global health challenges due to the pandemic, to further grow the relations between Bangladesh and Viet Nam in all possible sectors, including promotion of trade exchange and investment between the two countries.

The Bangladesh Embassy organised three humanitarian voluntary blood donation programmes throughout the year 2021, knowing that many Vietnamese people were in dire need of blood.

The Ambassador inaugurated the blood donation drive by donating her blood and then the Embassy’s officials & Vietnamese friends. The Embassy also arranged food donations with the Ha Noi People’s Committee for people in distress & suffering from the pandemic. These activities brought the peoples of Bangladesh and Viet Nam closer, carrying tokens of good bondage between the two countries.

In December 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam organised a conference on “Halal Market in South-East Asia, South Asia, and South Pacific: Potentials and Opportunities for Vietnam.” Bangladesh Ambassador to Viet Nam Samina Naz was invited to attend the conference as a panellist.

The global halal food market is expected to continue to grow strongly. Spending on halal food is expected to increase by 3.1 per cent from US$1.4 trillion in 2020 to $1.9 trillion in 2024 and $15 trillion in 2050.

The Ambassador encouraged Viet Nam to enter Bangladesh halal market through investment. If Viet Nam can explore the halal market of Bangladesh, it may help to claim a share for Viet Nam to the ever-growing global halal market and increase trade figures between the two countries.

To meet this target, the Ambassador suggested that Bangladesh is a large and potential market for halal products, and Vietnamese investors can come to Bangladesh to invest in the halal food market, e.g., cattle breeding/halal beef processing development.

This sector has high demand in Bangladesh, and Vietnamese investors can export from Bangladesh to the global market. Also, the Bangladeshi business community may be invited to Viet Nam to participate in producing and supplying halal products Viet Nam wishes to export to the world and can offer Bangladeshi expertise and experience to share for the benefit of both countries.

It is hoped that cooperation in all sectors, especially in trade and investment, will continue to be the mainstream in the excellent friendly relationship between the two countries. VNS