Bangladesh’s first resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Brazil M. Shameem Ahsan has presented his credentials to Brazilan President Dilma Vana Rousseff.
The ambassador was given a guard of honour by the presidential guards after he was received by the Brazilian Chief of Protocol at the front ramp of the Palacio Itamaraty, the seat of the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations, in Brasilia, said a media release.
He presented the credentials on Jan 23 and conveyed ‘warm greetings’ of Bangladesh’s President and Prime Minister to the Brazilian President and also his gratitude for the privilege to serve as the Bangladesh Ambassador to Brazil.
According to the media release, the Brazilian President extolled Bangladesh’s efforts to alleviate poverty and expressed happiness at the ‘good relations’ between Brazil and Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has recently opened its mission in Brazil after the latter reopened its embassy in Dhaka in 2010, nearly after a decade of closure due to low engagement between the two countries.
With the bilateral trade soared up to more than $ 700 million in recent years, mostly Bangladesh’s import of agricultural products like sugar, the two countries engaged themselves anew.
The government opened the embassy to what officials earlier said identify new avenues of cooperation, and boosting trade and economic ties.
Bangladesh also eyes preferential access as a least developed country (LDC), exporting readymade garments with lower tariff than the existing one, providing jute products for Brazilian coffee industry, cooperation in agricultural research, seed production, fruit processing etc.
A career diplomat Ahsan, before joining the new assignment, served as the Bangladesh High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam.
Before that he undertook ambassadorial assignments in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Brunei Darussalam.
He also served the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and Bangladesh Permanent Missions to the UN in Geneva and New York.
He obtained an MBBS degree from Rajshahi Medical College and belongs to the 1984 batch of BCS (Foreign Affairs) Cadre, a media release, earlier, said.
During the credentials presentation ceremony, Brazil’s Minister for External Relations Antonio de Aguiar Patriota and Foreign Policy Adviser to the President Marco Aurélio Garcia were present, among others.
Source: bdnews24.com