Bismillahir Rahmani Rahim 

Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 

Excellencies, 

Distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen, 

Assalamu Alaikum or Peace be on you.  

25th September is a day of historical significance for Bangladesh. On this day in 1974, nearly 46 years ago, the Father of our Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the greatest Bangalee of all time, delivered a speech in the United Nations General Assembly. That speech is hailed as one of the greatest speeches by a great Statesman in which he highlighted nearly 27 issues. His speech was futuristic and forward-leaning; many of the issues that Bangabandhu raised are still relevant and being debated at the UN.  For example, hunger, poverty and unemployment, Food security and healthcare, ensuring justice, peace, security, discrimination owing to race, color, ethnicity and religion, fear of Nuclear wars, restructuring of international financial and economic order, equitable sharing of resources and technology, inclusivity, right of self-determination, injustice and oppression, natural disasters, income inequality and deprivation, human solidarity, Human Rights, international amity and understanding, literacy, disease, non-alignment, reconciliation, good neighborly relations, spirit of fair play, welfare of people, belief in the UN and its UN Charter, UN as a catalytic agent of human growth and up liftman, balance of payments gap, indomitable spirit of men and women, international cooperation and partnership, etc. His speech highlighted the aspirations of the oppressed people of the world including Bangladesh. He eloquently stated and I quote, “Peace is an imperative for the survival of mankind. It represents the deepest aspirations of men and women throughout the world. Peace to endure, however, must be based upon justice” unquote. Thus in his maiden speech at the UN, he boldly introduced Bangladesh as an independent and peace-loving country. No wonder, today, Bangladesh is a brand name of UN Peacekeeping serving over 54 Missions out of its total of 59 Operations, and nearly a total of 163,181 Bangladesh men and women served the UN Peacekeeping with honor and dignity. Not only that. To end violence and wars, terror and tension,  and to stop uprooting of persecuted people from their homes across nations, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, dynamic daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman spearheaded a UN Resolution known as “Culture of Peace” adopted by all 193 UN member states and it aims at achieving sustainable peace and stability across nations. Bangladesh ever since its membership to the UN has been actively serving the causes of humanity and justice with flying colors. No wonder, UN is proud of Bangladesh and its former Secretary General Ban Ki-moon termed it as a ‘model of economic development’, and a ‘star of women empowerment’. From bottomless basket in the 1970s, it has become a land of opportunities, a vibrant economy.  

But our admission to the UN was not smooth at all. Although Bangladesh applied for the membership to the United Nations soon after its independence, we had to struggle for more than two years for final admission on 17th September 1974 as its 136th member. And on 25^th September 1974, Bangabandhu delivered his maiden speech at the UN and for the first time, he delivered his speech at the General Assembly in Bangla, the 7^th largest native language of the world, our mother tongue, thus raising the international profile of Bangla as a global language. No one ever did it before. He was truly a visionary and a charismatic leader.  

The cardinal principle of our Foreign Policy is, “Friendship to all, malice towards none” and it was laid down by Bangabandhu. In fact, the Foreign Policy that we are pursuing today under the leadership of Bangabandhu's illustrious daughter, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, represents the fundamental values and principles that Bangabandhu so eloquently presented to the world body. When we conduct our foreign relations today we honor the UN Charter of national and territorial integrity, however, protection and promotion of our national interests remain our core priorities.  Our overarching objective is to achieve Bangabandhu’s dream, the “Sonar Bangla”, a modern, vibrant, and economically prosperous country where no one is left behind.   

We know, we have two main resources and these are water and manpower and if we can utilize these resources efficiently and effectively, then no one can stop us reaching the top. Our visionary leader Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has laid down certain roadmaps in her Vision 2021, Vision 2041 and Delta Plan 2100. To help achieve her Visions given our resources, we have developed two packages known as “Economic Diplomacy” and the other, “Public Diplomacy”.  Our economic diplomacy comprises five elements: 

1.    Attracting diversified foreign investment portfolio in order to turn Bangladesh as the world’s Manufacturing Hub; 

2.    Expanding Bangladeshi exports to traditional and new markets plus diversifying the export basket; 

3.    Securing technology transfer, and technical assistance; 

4.    Ensuring gainful employment opportunities for Bangladeshi nationals abroad; and 

5.    Providing quality services to our nationals and Diaspora. 

During the last 11 years, Bangladesh achieved impressive economic growth.  In fact, last year, our GDP growth rate was 8.2%, the highest in the Asia-Pacific countries as per the Asian Development Bank. Within the last few years, Bangladesh has reduced poverty level by more than half, and achieved remarkable success in all social indicators. It has also earned a brandname in UN peacekeeping and become a model of success story in managing climate disasters. Our staple food, rice production has increased 4 times and its female participation in the labor force shoot up from 6% to 40%, mainly due to Prime Minister’s targeted initiatives and determined efforts.  

Bangladesh's stellar economic performance has led it to graduate to a lower-middle-income country and in 2018, Bangladesh celebrated a watershed moment when it met the United Nation's criteria for graduating from the "least developed country" status by 2024. 

Along with economic diplomacy, we are also focusing on public diplomacy to showcase and promote our achievements. We need to work with all stakeholders including media, civil society, think tanks, and our Diaspora abroad to project the right image of Bangladesh. We are lucky that this year we are observing the 100^th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation and following year, we shall be observing the 50^th anniversary of our independence. These historic events gave us an opportunity to spread the message of Bangladesh and its goodwill throughout the world. We have geared up all our Missions accordingly.  

We have taken a number of measures to improve our service delivery both at the Ministry and the Missions. Consular services in all Bangladesh Missions abroad have been revamped. We have digitalized our service delivery in our missions, introduced 24 hrs, 7 days a week hotlines, launched e-passport service, automated queue management system for consular service seekers, initiated cash-less transactions to ensure transparency in financial management and launched telemedicine service in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, among others.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when everything was under lockdown, the officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our Missions abroad were always on duty on 24/7 basis to ensure the overall welfare of Bangladeshis living and working abroad as well as the returnee migrant workers and our student and stranded communities. 

I expect this level of dedication and professionalism from all our diplomats all the time.  

I am happy that today we are inaugurating a new building of the Foreign Service Academy in the premises of Sugandha, which Hon'ble Prime Minister so kindly allocated for the use of the Ministry as its training academy. The structure and architecture of this new building is eye-catching with all modern facilities and we expect that, like the quality of its architecture, the new foreign service academy would produce outstanding diplomats, who would dedicate themselves to the service of the people with empathy, commitment and with professionalism. 

May I draw your attention to a very important piece of history. This building, Sugandha bears the rich memory of the Father of the Nation. This was his first office as President and then Prime Minister of independent and sovereign Bangladesh. From this office, he took many important decisions on both domestic and international issues. To keep Bangabadhu's association with Sugandha alive in the minds of the successive generations, in this Mujib Borsho, we have decided to establish a “Bangabandhu Research Center for Foreign Policy and Diplomacy” here. This will be a Center of Excellence to conduct quality research on the life and works of Bangabandhu as well as Bangladesh Foreign Policy strategy and Diplomacy.  Last year, we established  “Gono Hottha Corner” or Genocide Corner in this building as Pakistani occupation leadership gave orders for genocide known as “Search Light” operations from here that killed millions.  

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, 

Bangladesh today is acclaimed as a 'role model for development', 'a star of women empowerment,' ‘a Champion of the Earth,’ and ‘a standard-bearer of the South.’ The global recognition that we have received brings more responsibility for us.  Furthermore, our impending graduation to a developing country status will add more challenges and obligations for the country. We need diplomats who are capable of handling these challenges effectively and can shoulder any responsibility that may arise with our new status. Under the charismatic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we resolve to work with utmost sincerity and professionalism to transform the country into a “Sonar Bangla”, a land of peace and stability that would promote the spirit of friendship, malice towards none’, and help establish a mindset of respect, tolerance and love for others irrespective of ethnicity, color, religion or race aiming at ending the venom of hatred, violence, wars and tensions across nations. In achieving our goals, we may face at times frustration and uncertainty. But never give up. Work with selflessness. Keep your dream alive. Keep your hope alive. We are a nation of victors, we are sure to win. Let’s echo what Tagore said,  

“  উদয়ের পথে শুনি কার বাণী,

                       ‘ ভয় নাই, ওরে ভয় নাই —

                  নিঃশেষে প্রাণ যে করিবে দান

                      ক্ষয় নাই তার ক্ষয় নাই। '’

Joy Bangla, Joy Banglabandhu