Bangladesh’s journey from a war-ravaged LDC to a robust development model has been marked by significant contribution of migrants and diaspora” -said Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen while speaking today at a panel discussion entitled, ’empowering diaspora, migrants and displaced persons as development agents’ organized by IOM during its 2023 International Dialogue on Migration held at the United Nations Headquarters.
Putting a spotlight on the whole-of-society approach to migration management adopted by the Government of Bangladesh, Foreign Secretary Momen shared the experience of Bangladesh in engaging the diaspora in mobilizing financial flow, especially through remittance.
As the consumer of the home country’s products, the diaspora represents the major export market; they contribute to developing business models and support their country by sending money to the family and businesses they run in Bangladesh, he added.
Referring to the greater contribution of skilled diaspora to economic development both at the host and country of origin, Foreign Secretary recommended the policymakers, and development partners collaborate in ensuring greater inclusion of the diaspora in policy debates in their host countries, including on issues of official development assistance. He also urged the development partners to nurture the innovative ideas and business models of the diaspora and invest more in skills development in developing countries, especially in the field of ICT education.
Before that Ambassador Masud Bin Momen attended the high-level meeting of the Un General Assembly on ‘zero waste’ as a transformative solution in achieving sustainable development goals and delivered the national statement of Bangladesh.
Highlighting the various initiatives of the Government of Bangladesh towards zero waste including the banning of plastic shopping bags in 2022, Foreign Secretary underscored the importance of education, awareness raising, innovation in business policy, and behavioral change in achieving the zero-waste objective enshrined in the 2030 development agenda.