Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina along with other global leaders gathered here on Tuesday as the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) began in Davos, Switzerland. The four-day meeting began at Congress Centre in Davos, a mountain resort at Graubünden in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland, under the theme ‘Responsive and Responsible Leadership’.On the sidelines of the forum, Sheikh Hasina had also informal interaction with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Swiss President Doris Leuthard.The Chinese President, who was accompanied by the largest delegation of his country since its first participation in an annual meeting in 1979, opened the meeting proceedings.In his speech, the Chinese President said economic globalisation has powered worldwide growth and it should not be blamed for the world’s problems. In an attack on the anti-globalisation rhetoric that has led to the election of Donald Trump as the US President and the Brexit vote in the UK, he told a packed audience: “It’s true that economic globalisation created new problems but there’s no justification to write off economic globalisation altogether. Rather we should adapt to and guide economic globalisation, cushion its negative impacts and deliver its benefits for all countries.”Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joined the opening plenary and other events of the meeting along with other heads of government and state. Before the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum, WEF Executive Chairman Prof Klaus Schwann called on Sheikh Hasina. The WEF executive chairman invited the Prime Minister to attend the Forum. She is the first elected Bangladeshi leader to attend the high profile annual global meeting that draws statesmen, top business leaders and the intelligentsia to discuss crucial global issues.The Prime Minister has urged the World Economic Forum (WEF) to arrange a meeting of it in Dhaka focusing on ‘Bangladesh and regional economy’ to attract more investment for expediting the country’s development further.
“Bangladesh wants to host such a meeting of World Economic Forum,” she said when WEF Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab met her at the Congress Centre in Davos on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister also called upon the WEF executive chairman to ask the investors through the ongoing WEF 2017 forum to invest massively in Bangladesh taking the advantage of the existing congenial investment atmosphere.
PM’s Deputy Press Secretary Md Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the meeting.
The Prime Minister said the Bangladesh government has implemented many big projects through public-private-partnership (PPP) initiatives in the power and energy sector to utilise the available energy resources.
Klaus said Bangladesh needs to be branded globally first to attract more investment.
He said the world community now clearly knows the interest of Bangladesh. “They’re (global community) confident and believe about the bright future of Bangladesh.”
Highly praising the able leadership of Sheikh Hasina, the WEF executive chairman said development in various sectors in Bangladesh, especially maintaining a steady GDP growth and taking it to over 7 percent amid worldwide economic recession, is ‘admirable’ and ‘remarkable’.
At this point, the Prime Minister said Bangladesh, despite having a huge population, is marching ahead with the cooperation of its development partners and other friendly countries overcoming various problems. “We’re moving ahead overcoming the shortcomings with the restoration of democracy.”
She said Bangladesh is giving impetus to regional cooperation and signed BBIN agreement for further strengthening cooperation among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal, while BCIM-EC agreement is being pursued in this regard.
Hasina mentioned that Bangladesh has good relations with all of its neighbours and resolved various bilateral issues, including the land boundary agreement (LBA) with India and maritime boundary problems with India and Myanmar, peacefully.
She also said her government has been continuing efforts to further improve its relations with the neighbours and trying to resolve various problems through discussions.
The Prime Minister said the aim of her government is to materialise the dreams of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman through ensuring economic emancipation and maintaining democratic process. “I’ve been trying hard to ensure the fundamental rights of our people.”
She also thanked the WEF executive chairman for inviting her to the WEF 2017.
State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Bangladesh Ambassador to Switzerland and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Offices Shameem Ahsan were present on the occasion. – UNB
