DHAKA, Oct 15, 2019 (BSS) – Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, now attending the 141th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference in Serbia, said women empowerment in Bangladesh has eventually made easier reaching development activities to the grassroots level.
She made this comment when her Serbian counterpart and IPU conference president Ms. Maja Gojkovic made a courtesy call on her at IPU’s venue Sava Center in Belgrade on Monday night.
“The economic empowerment of the women in Bangladesh is now “visible” which consequently has reached the development activities to the grassroots level,” the speaker said during the meeting.
She said women empowerment has also made it possible to achieve 8 percent growth rate in Bangladesh.
During the call on, they discussed different bilateral issues, parliamentary practices, formation of the parliamentary friendship groups between Bangladesh and Serbia, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), parliamentary and economic cooperation, adverse impacts of the climate change and the economic and social development of Bangladesh.
Dr Shirin informed her Serbian counterpart that Bangladesh is maintaining its strong position in all development indexes under the robust leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Mentioning the relations between Bangladesh and Serbia or former Yugoslavia as historical, the speaker said former Yugoslavia had recognized Bangladesh immediately after the independence achieved under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In 1973, Bangabandhu’s visit to Yugoslavia was the “preliminary foundation” of the relations between the two countries, she added.
“Women development and women empowerment in Bangladesh have set a unique example in the world,” said Serbian parliament Speaker Ms Maja Gojkovic during the meeting.
Deputy Speaker M Fazle Rabbi Miah, Chairman of the JS body on Commerce Ministry Tofail Ahmed, Chairman of the JS body on the Ministry of Industries Amir Hossain Amu and Bangladesh Envoy to Italy Abdus Sobhan Sikder, among others, were present during the call on.
Earlier, Bangladesh parliamentary delegation member Abdus Salam Murshedy, MP, addressed a session on ‘The Role of Parliamentarians in Enhancing National Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention’ at the 141th IPU conference.