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The ambassador of Bangladesh in Brazil, Mohamed Mijarul Quayes, welcomed diplomats of various nationalities to celebrate the independence of the country, this Monday (28), at the Embassy in Brasilia. The representative of the Asian nation honored those who where important for the freedom of the country and the consolidation of the national date.
“I honor those who fought for freedom, who did not measured the efforts to resist pressure and even to fight armed in order to free the country. I honor the three million martyrs of the Liberation War and more than twenty thousand women that suffered sexual abuse during war. We owe them our freedom and the values that Bangladesh stand for – democracy, an inclusive secular society, compromised with the State of Law”, remembered Quayes.
Until 1971, Bangladesh was a territory belonging to Pakistan. Because its majority in Muslim population, the current country became the East Pakistan. After suffering cultural and political prejudice, the local leaders commanded a series of popular riots to claim the independence from West Pakistan. During the process of war, Bangladesh suffered military and social repression, which resulted in the death of million of inhabitants. After nine months of struggle, on December 16 1971, the Nation of Bengals, as it is known, conquered its freedom.
Marked by a past of fight and victory, Bangladesh has as some of the principal challenges the combat to poverty and the maintenance of the economic growth. The ambassador Mohamed Quayes affirms that the country fought for the improvement of quality of life of the population and reached great development index.
“In accord with the values and with our struggle for freedom, the politics of the Government are focused in specific goals such as the eradication of poverty, the promotion of commerce and investment, the overthrow of social inequality and the human development. Bangladesh maintains a stable economic framework, an average rate of sustained growth of 6% during the last seven years. Thus, the economy grew from a GPD of 101 US$ billion in 2009 for more than US$ 180 billion today. During this period, we reduced poverty in 15%”, says the ambassador.
Diplomatic Relations – Despite the geographic distance, Bangladesh is one of the greatest commercial and diplomatic partners of Brazil in Asia. The Under-Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs, the minister Graça Lima, attended the celebration of the independence of the country and highlighted the growing cooperation between the two countries.
“Brazil was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Bangladesh and opened its Embassy in Dhaka, the capital, in 1974. I remember that to stress out that, since long ago, we recognize in Bangladesh a valorous partner. The sharing of principles, in particular the combat to poverty, was a natural vector of cooperation between the two countries”, stressed the minister.
The economic relations of Brazil and Bangladesh are mostly in the textile industry. According to the ambassador of Bangladesh, 90.5% of the total of the product importation from Bangladesh to Brazil between 2014 and 2015 were clothing. The import of hats and pharmaceutical products is also part of the bilateral relations. A curious fact is that the shirt of the Brazilian soccer team, used in the last World Cup, was produced in Bangladesh.