US to assist reforms by interim govt: Foreign Secretary

Foreign Secretary Md Jasim Uddin said that the United States wants to help the reform activities of the interim government and that discussions have been held with the US delegation on how they can help.

He said, we hope this visit will be a basis for increasing proper communication with the United States. In the future, we will take this discussion forward in different stages.

The foreign secretary said these to the media after a meeting with the US delegation at the State Guest House Padma on Sunday.

A 6-member delegation team led by US Treasury Department Assistant Secretary Brent Neiman held a meeting with chief advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain and financial adviser Md. Saleh Uddin Ahmed. Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for the US Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, was also present at the meeting.

During the time, the Secretary of Economic Relations Department, Chairman of Revenue Board, Commerce Secretary, Labor Secretary, Home Affairs and representatives of Bangladesh Bank were present along with the Foreign Secretary.

Md. Jasim Uddin said that the interim government has assumed responsibility for a little more than a month. In today’s meeting, there was a general discussion about the changing situation and thinking about government reform and how the United States can participate in it.

On behalf of the US government, the delegation reiterated its commitment to work with the interim government, the foreign secretary said, on various issues including financial sector and revenue sector reform and the possible cooperation of the US in this regard, increasing bilateral trade and investment, labor environment, human rights protection, Rohingya. discussed.

The foreign secretary said that there was also a discussion about bringing back the smuggled money. He said, “We have discussed reforms in the financial sector on a large scale and preliminary talks have been held on bringing back laundered money and other issues.” We may use the specialized knowledge that the United States has in this regard. But the talks have just begun. It will take some time to get its final form. They will have a meeting with the governor. Specific issues may be discussed in the meeting there.

When asked what assurances the American party has given to the journalists, he said that the first assurance is that they want to work with the interim government and as a reflection of that, they have sent a delegation at the beginning of the second month of the formation of the government. Secondly, they have assured comprehensive support in all the sectors we have identified for financial reforms.

Asked whether he had brought any message from India, Foreign Secretary Md. Jasim Uddin said, India has an embassy in Bangladesh and Bangladesh has an embassy in India. If we want to discuss issues of bilateral interest between the two countries, these are the platforms for us.

Asked whether a neighboring country is trying to destabilize Bangladesh and whether we have sought the cooperation of the United States in this regard, he said that our relationship with each country is a bilateral relationship. I don’t think we’ve ever had a discussion like this before. At least I haven’t had any such discussions.

In the meeting, it has been decided to provide assistance of 200 million dollars to the priority sector of the government.

It is to be noted that a 6-member delegation led by US Treasury Department Assistant Secretary Brent Neiman arrived in Dhaka on Saturday.