Want to rebuild trust between our people: Donald Lu

The United States wants to rebuild the trust between the people of Bangladesh and the US, leaving behind tensions centring the last national election in the South Asian country, said visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu today (15 May).

"Last year, there were a lot of tensions between Bangladesh and the US. The US feels and works very hard to promote free, fair and non-violent elections here and it caused some tensions. This is common in our relationship," he told journalists after meeting with Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud at his office. 

"We want to look forward and not back. We want to find ways to strengthen our relations. So, today I spoke to the foreign minister about working on our hard issues. We have a lot of hard issues – RAB sanctions, labour reforms, human rights, and business climate reforms. To work on hard issues, we want to build up cooperation on positive issues," he added. 

He also said they discussed new investment, the possibility of more Bangladeshi students studying in the US and how to work together in clean energy.

"Lastly, we discussed our works together to fight corruption, promote transparency of government and accountability of officials, and help Bangladesh broaden its tax base so that all Bangladeshis can pay their fair share," Lu added.

After the meeting, a Facebook post from the US Embassy in Dhaka said, "Our discussion with the foreign minister today reaffirmed our shared commitment to cultivating economic growth, bolstering the workforce, improving security cooperation, addressing the climate crisis, and reinforcing our values of respecting democracy and human rights."

After the meeting with Donald Lu, Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud told reporters that the US wants to provide Bangladesh with the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility again.

"The programme has not yet been reintroduced. But for that, we have to review our labour policy a little, which we have already started. The law minister discussed the matter with Donald Lu," he said.

"The US wants to strengthen Bangladesh's foreign reserves and economic sector through financing from the Development Financial Corporation. The US also want to cooperate to modernise the taxation system of Bangladesh so that we can be able to create one crore taxpayers. Besides, they are also willing to cooperate in stopping tax evasion," the minister said.

"The US is our biggest trade partner and investor. I asked them to invest in our 40 IT villages and economic zones and to help us tackle challenges after LDC graduation. Donald Lu assured their support for expanding relations with Bangladesh," he added.

The minister said, "Our meeting with Donald Lu reflects the positive tone set by the US president, who expressed his desire to strengthen ties through a letter upon Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's fourth consecutive election win. All our discussions revolve around that goal."

"The process of lifting the ban on RAB is complex," the foreign minister noted. "While there have been discussions with the foreign office, it's a lengthy procedure. Our focus is on moving forward."

The meeting also addressed the extradition of Bangabandhu's self-confessed assassin, Rashed Chowdhury, and fostering peace in Gaza. "The US is actively working to enforce the ceasefire," the minister added.

Furthermore, Bangladesh has urged the US to play a more active role in Rohingya repatriation. Regarding elections and human rights, there were no discussions, he clarified.

Earlier, Donald Lu met with the foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen at state guest house Padma. 

In the morning, he met with the Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury at the Secretariat. 

Donald Lu also got engaged with a number of social media influencers today and met a group of young climate activists in civil society, and cricketers to extend their best wishes ahead of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup to be held in the US and the West Indies.

Lu arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday on a three-day visit to "strengthen bilateral cooperation" and to demonstrate US support for a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. He is scheduled to leave Dhaka for Washington early Thursday.

Want to deepen ties with US to combat climate change: Saber

The US wants to help Bangladesh fight climate change, and Bangladesh in turn wants to deepen its relations with the US through this fight, Environment Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury said after he met with Lu.

Briefing reporters at the Secretariat, Saber said the dialogue revolved around advancing the existing bilateral ties without dwelling on past issues.

"The discussions primarily centred on strategies to tackle the impacts of climate change, environmental conservation, and forestry. We also discussed the formation of long-term action plans spanning three to five years," the minister said.   

Regarding climate finance, Saber Hossain asserted that the role of the Multilateral Development Bank in addressing the effects of climate change is now a crucial issue.

"In the past, billions of dollars were needed to combat the effects of climate change. Now it has soared to a trillion-dollar range. Therefore, the Bangladesh government is putting more emphasis on research," he said.

Underscoring the shared priority of addressing climate change, both Saber Hossain and Donald Lu pledged to continue the collaboration, with a particular emphasis on identifying sectors requiring assistance.

According to the minister, Donald Lu stressed the importance of ensuring that future investment in the environment and climate initiative benefit the marginalised people.

Saber also proposed utilising NASA's climate satellite for real-time data collection, which will remove the need for deploying additional satellites, thus reducing costs and enhancing efficiency.

Eastern Bank, US partner on climate change adaptation

The country's private commercial Eastern Bank and the US Department of State entered into an agreement to collaborate on the EBL Climate Change Adaptation Award. 

The prize will be announced annually with the aim of recognising and celebrating the best practices by corporations, manufacturing companies, NGOs operating in Bangladesh, and climate activists who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in implementing climate change adaptation projects and initiatives.

The agreement was signed by Donald Lu and Acting Managing Director of EBL Ahmed Shaheen at the EMK Center in Gulshan.

The award categories cover a wide range of sectors and themes, such as renewable energy, water conservation, sustainable agriculture, urban resilience, biodiversity protection, and disaster preparedness.

The nomination process for the EBL Climate Change Adaptation Award 2024 will be announced soon through newspaper, electronic media and the EBL website and social media platforms.

Donald Lu said, "The United States and Eastern Bank share a common goal of promoting work to combat climate change among Bangladeshi businesses, civil society, and elsewhere.  We look forward to supporting EBL's establishment of this important new climate change adaptation award." 

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas also spoke among others.