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U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Tareq Rahman. The meeting took place on Saturday (August 1) at 9:30 AM at the Prime Minister’s Tejgaon office, in a very warm and cordial atmosphere.
Following the meeting, Sergio Gor highly praised Prime Minister Tareq Rahman’s leadership, stating that stability is returning to Bangladesh under his guidance. As an indication of this, the United States has positively revised its existing travel advisory for Bangladesh.
He added that this sends an important message to U.S. investors that Bangladesh is now ready for investment. Discussions also covered the upcoming visit of a U.S.-Bangladesh Business Council delegation to Bangladesh next month.
The meeting also addressed expanding cooperation between Bangladesh and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Gor assured that he would assist in restarting FDA’s testing activities in Bangladesh.
Furthermore, opportunities for investment in Bangladesh through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) were discussed. The Prime Minister called for continued U.S. investment in Bangladesh.
The Special Envoy stated that the U.S. would work positively to expand DFC’s investment cooperation in Bangladesh. U.S. investors in Dhaka are keen to organize a ‘U.S. Investor Summit’ soon. He also informed the Prime Minister that he is personally working to implement this initiative.
The Prime Minister urged U.S. investment in warehousing, soybean, cotton, wheat, and other agricultural sectors. He emphasized that investing in these sectors would enable the development of a robust and competitive supply chain.
The Prime Minister also highlighted Bangladesh’s keen interest in investment in the information technology (IT) sector. The Special Envoy noted Bangladesh’s significant potential in this sector. He further commented that Bangladesh has the potential to be a partner in the ‘PAX Silica’ initiative in the future and stated that he would take action on this matter.
The Rohingya crisis was also a topic of discussion during the meeting. The Special Envoy shared his experiences from his visit to the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar the previous day. He highly praised and thanked the Government and people of Bangladesh for providing shelter to Rohingya refugees and continuing humanitarian assistance.
The Prime Minister stated that more than half of the international assistance for the Rohingyas comes from the U.S. contribution. For this, he expressed gratitude to the U.S. Government and its people.
Sergio Gor emphasized the need for a swift, sustainable, and political solution to the Rohingya crisis. To this end, he stressed the importance of coordinated efforts among ASEAN, neighboring countries, and all relevant parties.
Present at the meeting were — Foreign Affairs Advisor Dr. Khalilur Rahman, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam, Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Humayun Kabir, Prime Minister’s Advisors Mahdi Amin and Rehan Asif Asad, Bangladesh Ambassador to Washington Tareq Arifur Rahman, and U.S. Ambassador to Dhaka Brent Christensen, along with other high-ranking officials.