The government's plan to open and re-open at least 21 embassies and consulates abroad has been bogged down by bureaucratic red tape, said officials of the foreign affairs ministry.
The government decided in 2009 and 2010 to open and re-open embassies in several countries including Afghanistan, Argentina, Angola, Brazil, Botswana, Denmark, Greece, Lebanon, Mauritius, Portugal, Romania, Sierra Leone and Sudan to advance the country's economic and strategic interests and boost the export of manpower.
It decided to open consulates in Istanbul in Turkey, Lagos in Nigeria, Mumbai and Guwahati in India, Kunming in China and Milan in Italy.
'We were successful in opening a consulate in Milan and have made hectic efforts for opening and re-opening several missions in the last two years,' a senior official told New Age on Tuesday.
The decision to open and re-open missions was taken at the highest political level, he said.
Finance minister AMA Muhith told reporters on 30 August, 2009 that the government had decided to set up and re-open several diplomatic missions abroad. Foreign affairs minister Dipu Moni reiterated the government's commitment on different occasions, in and outside the Parliament, in the last two years to open missions in a number of countries to advance the country's economic and strategic interests.
When asked about the causes that were hindering the opening of missions, the official said, 'We are struggling to overcome bureaucratic hurdles at the establishment and finance ministries'.
The establishment ministry recently approved the proposals for re-opening embassies in Brazil, Romania and Sudan. 'We are now trying hard to get clearance from the finance ministry for only three missions, so getting clearance for rest of the missions will be a difficult task,' said a senior official.
Not all hurdles are inside the country, said the official, mentioning that the Indian government has not yet approved the opening of consulates in Mumbai and Guahati.
China is persistently asking which region in the that country Bangladesh would serve from Kunming.
Some countries, including Brazil, were asking Bangladesh to expedite the opening of the missions.
'Having an embassy is important for promoting diverse economic and strategic interests,' Maria Edileuza Fontenele Reis, an under-secretary of the Brazilian external relations ministry who was on a three-day fact-finding mission in Bangladesh, told reporters in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Brazilian ambassador to Dhaka, Ricardo L Viana De Carvalho, said that Brazil had made a 'mistake' in shutting down its embassy in Dhaka.
Foreign policy experts point out that Bangladesh remains almost unrepresented in South America, Central Asia and Africa, though relations with the countries in those regions, together with banking facilities there, could be beneficial for Bangladesh both economically and culturally.
Many of those countries, they said, can provide employment to skilled Bangladeshi workers in agriculture, health, education, economic and technical services.
Bangladesh has resident ambassadors or high commissioners in 47 countries to look after the welfare of about seven million Bangladeshis working abroad as well as promote the strategic and economic interests of the country, said a foreign ministry official.
Besides, it has several deputy high commissions and consulates, they said.
Bangladesh's embassies in Afghanistan, Algeria and Brazil were shut down in the 1990s. Afghanistan, however, continues to operate its mission in Dhaka. Brazil, the largest South American country, re-opened its mission, which was shut down in 1998, in May last year.
source:New Age
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