DHAKA, 21 July 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen called for global cooperation for the ongoing fight against the pandemic and economic recovery.

A foreign ministry press release said “his call came in a statement at the Virtual Global Action Plan Foreign Ministerial Meeting jointly convened by Japanese foreign minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and the US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.”

Momen said “economic recovery remains at the core of fighting pandemic as the fear of COVID induced stagflation caused an exodus of funds from the developing economies at a time when they need significant investments.”

To support their economic recovery, he urged the advanced countries and global financial institutions to enhance flow of concessional loans, including in the healthcare sector; and increase financing in low-carbon developments and transfer green technologies to build back better.

DHAKA, 21 July 2022, (TON): The State Department of the United States in their 2022 trafficking in persons report has ranked Bangladesh on Tier-2 saying that the government of the country is yet to ‘fully meet’ the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

State Department, however, said “the Bangladesh government demonstrated an increasing effort compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity.”

It stated “these efforts included increasing investigations, prosecutions,  and convictions against human traffickers, including upholding the dismissal of a parliamentarian involved in a labour trafficking case.”

The TIP 2022 has made 18 recommendations including strengthening the capacity of anti-trafficking tribunal personnel to prosecute and adjudicate human trafficking cases and expanding tribunals to heavy caseload areas to improve services for trafficking victims.

KABUL, 21 July 2022, (TON): Russia is seeking to expand relations in politics and economics with Afghanistan, said Anton Lavrov, Russian deputy ambassador for Afghanistan.

A shipment of more than 23 tons of Russian aid for the families affected by earthquakes and flooding arrived in Kabul.

At the Kabul airport, Lavrov told reporters that the aid arrived in Kabul to assist those affected by earthquakes and flooding. He said "we hope Russia-Afghan cooperation of humanitarian assistance can continue."

He also said that Russia wants friendly relations with Afghanistan and will seek to further improve relations in political and economic areas.

DHAKA, 21 July 2022, (TON): President M Abdul Hamid directed Bangladesh Bank to take effective measures to ensure transparency and accountability in all activities of financial institutions.

He made the remarks as the new governor of the central bank, Abdur Rauf Talukder, paid a courtesy call on him at Bangabhaban in the evening.

Hamid also asked Bangladesh Bank to take effective steps to expand and develop the domestic financial market as well.

Referring to the effect of the pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war context, he said “financial management is critical to protect the economic stability of the country.”

DHAKA, 21 July 2022, (TON): Bangladesh has set an ambitious export target of $67 billion for goods and services for the current fiscal year.

This target, announced by Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, shows an over 10% growth estate, despite the volatility in the global economy owing to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The minister pegged Bangladesh's export achievements in the past financial year at $60.08 billion, some 17.80% more than the target of $51 billion.

These are, however, provisional figures.

In the previous fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $52.08 billion from export of goods against the target of $43.5 billion, showing a 19.73% growth.

DHAKA, 21 July 2022, (TON): Bangladesh and Malaysia have discussed the issues of mutual interest including the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the excellent relations between the two brotherly countries in the days ahead.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob expressed his keenness to visit Bangladesh on a mutually convenient date in the near future.

Referring to the invitation from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the Malaysian leader, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen requested him to visit Bangladesh this year for the golden jubilee of bilateral relations.

Foreign Minister Momen visited Kuala Lumpur on July 19-20.

KUWAIT, 20 July 2022, (TON): Kuwait Armed Forces Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Sheikh Khaled Saleh Al-Sabah met with the Commander of US Central Command Gen. Michael Kurilla.

The meeting was held at the headquarters of the Kuwaiti Army General Staff.

According to a statement issued by the Army General Staff “they discussed joint military cooperation and other matters of mutual interest.”

Kurilla visited Israel last week to discuss air defenses and was deployed to Germany earlier this year to oversee the US response to the conflict in Ukraine.

KYIV, 20 July 2022, (TON): As Russia kept up its relentless shelling across the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expanded the shakeup of his security services by suspending 28 more officials.

In his nightly video address, Zelensky said “a personnel audit of the Security Service of Ukraine was underway, and the dismissal of the 28 officials was being decided.

Zelensky said “different levels, different areas of focus. But the reasons are similar unsatisfactory results of work.”

He had fired SBU chief Ivan Bakanov and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.

DUBAI, 20 July 2022, (TON): The UAE’s president left France on Tuesday after meeting with the country’s prime minister Elisabeth Borne earlier in the day.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was hosted by Borne at her official residence, Hotel Matignon, and the two officials discussed the longstanding relations between their countries.

They also explored opportunities to further strengthen these ties while addressing some of the most pressing issues facing the world.

Sheikh Mohamed said “the UAE was interested in collaborating with France on a broad range of topics including the economy, bilateral investment, the environment, climate change, food security, and sustainable technology.”

TEHRAN, 20 July 2022, (TON): Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran for talks on the Syrian war at a three-way summit overshadowed by fallout from his country’s war on Ukraine.

Putin traveled abroad for only the second time since ordering the invasion of Ukraine in order to attend the gathering that also involves Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The summit comes days after US President Joe Biden visited the Middle East for the first time in his presidency, with stops in Iran’s regional foes Israel and Saudi Arabia.

It is the first hosted by Iran’s ultra-conservative president Ebrahim Raisi since he took office last year and is ostensibly aimed at ending more than 11 years of conflict in Syria.