KARACHI: Bangladesh is 'Role Model' for developing countries, these remarks were made by Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh S. M. Mahbubul Alam during courtesy call on him by Editor-in-Chief of Daily National Courier Aneel Ahmed Usmani at Bangladesh Mission on August 10, 2023. Senior journalist Junaid Ahmed Khan and photo journalist Sultan Soomro were present during meeting.

Bangladesh DeputyHigh Commissioner welcomed Editor-in-Chief and journalists at Mission. Deputy HC S. Mahbubul Alam mentioned that Bangladesh and Pakistan have huge potential for mutually beneficial bilateral relationships. He emphasised on exploring areas for wider and stronger cooperation between two countries.

Alam highlighted that Bangladesh is largest delta in world with hundreds of rivers. Bangladesh is green country which is production powerhouse. Bangladesh is 1st in Jute export, 2nd in Jute production, 3rd in freshwater fish production, 4th in rice production, 7th in potatoes production. Bangladesh, country of 170 million population is self-sufficient country in food production.

Moreover, he elaborated on success stories of Bangladesh and mentioned that under charismatic and dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has become 'Role Model' of socio-economic development in world. Bangladesh is currently among five fastest growing economies in world, ranking 35th in terms of GDP. He further added that Bangladesh has full filled all criteria for graduation to developing country from LDC status and has been confirmed to be graduated from LDC in 2026. Present per capita income of Bangladesh is 2,824 dollar.

During meeting, Deputy HC briefed that Bangladesh has completed or has been working on many mega projects such as Padma Bridge, which is opened on June 25, 2022. Padma Bridge is constructed with own finance worth over $3.8 billion. He mentioned few other mega projects such as Metro Rail (opened on December 28, 2022), Karnaphuli River Tunnel-first ever under river tunnel in South Asia, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Deep-Sea Port, Bangabandhu Satellite-1.

He added that Bangladesh will become trillion dollar economy and 9th largest consumer market in world by 2041. Government of Bangladesh has been striving hard to implement 'Vision-2041' to turn Bangladesh into an upper middle-income country by 2031 and Developed and Smart Bangladesh by 2041 and building prosperous and climate-resilient delta by 2100.

Mahbubul Alam in meeting with journalists highlighted that positive and unbiased role of media plays pivotal role in disseminating right information to audience at large.

Editor-in-Chief highly appreciated impressive and exemplary development of Bangladesh, which is truly an encouraging example of 'Role Model' for many developing countries. He mentioned that Bangladesh and Pakistan have lot of commonalities. He expressed his opinion that both countries could utilise comparative advantages in trade and commerce vis-à-vis cooperation in art, culture, literature and enhanced people-to-people contacts.  

Deputy High Commissioner emphasised that potential of trade and commerce and investment in Bangladesh is huge. Items such as raw jute and jute products, tea, chemical fertilizer, garments, leather and lather products, plastic items, ceramic products and pharmaceutical products and so forth are few of export items.