Dhaka, 16 September, Abnews: Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi on Sunday said the next general election will be held fairly and timely without creating any impediment to any political party.
“There’s no question about election. [The] election will be held in time… on time. [The] election will be held according to the rules – free and fair. There’ll be no impediment to any political party from participating in the election,” he said.
The Foreign Affairs Adviser was addressing a discussion as the chief guest on Bangladesh-Australia trade and investment opportunities at a city hotel.
The Australia Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ABCCI) hosted the welcome reception to High Commissioner of Australia to Bangladesh Julia Niblett and the discussion on ‘Bilateral Business & Trade Opportunities Between Australia & Bangladesh’.
Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Kazi M Aminul Islam and President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) spoke as special guests at the programme held with ABCCI President Obaidur Rahman in the chair.
ABCCI Vice President M Khan made a presentation on Bangladesh-Australia trade and investment opportunities.
Dr Rizvi hoped that there will a political revival and rejuvenation of all political parties and political institutions -- everybody will come forward to keep up the democratic continuity.
He, however, said the outcome of election results is always unpredictable. “Election results may be unpredictable. What not unpredictable is our economic policies that will remain predictable and there’ll be a continuity and there’ll be no change.”
Dr Rizvi invited the Australian investors to come and invest in Bangladesh taking the advantage of ‘stable political system’ availability of workers and fast growing market inside Bangladesh and re-export to other countries. “So, the investors who will come here can come and there won’t be any change.”
He said Bangladesh has a stable society with political stability and growing maturity of democratic institutions. "We’ll have to continue the stable society… there’ll be democratic continuity…. There’s no doubt about it.”
Dr Rizvi said Bangladesh is now a different place with social and economic growth, and the political stability over the last 10 years played the key role.
He said political and social stability is one of the reasons why Bangladesh has done so well in the last 10 years.
“Bangladesh today, in the every sense of the word, is a very, very different place. You can look at every possible indicator -- social or economic. We can be truly proud of our achievements in the last 10 years. What made this possible was political stability,” Dr Rizvi said.
Mentioning over 7 percent growth in the last two years and over 6 percent growth in the last one decade, he said it is the stability and it is the continuity that is helping Bangladesh push its economy.
“You know about Bangladesh’s macroeconomic stability. So you know your investment is not at risk,” said the Foreign Affairs Adviser.
He said foreign investors are coming in a big way because of a stable society. “…. We’ll continue to have the stable society. I can reassure [you] my friends here.”
Dr Rizvi said two things – empathy and sympathy – are dominating in Bangladesh-Australia relations are very much visible. “In any relation where these two elements exist, [the] rest is easy.”
He laid emphasis on making the relations stronger, deeper and better in the days to come, and take the relations to a higher level.
Over the years, Dr Rizvi mentioned, Australia has become the destination of the largest number of students from Bangladesh and the quality of education that Bangladeshis students receiving is truly remarkable.
“Today, the fastest growing alumni are the Australian university graduates. They’re truly contributing to Bangladesh,” he said.
Business leaders from the FBCCI, other associations and members of other bilateral Chambers were also present.
ABN/Adrian/Jasim/AD