Foreign adviser Md Touhid Hossain said on Monday that Bangladesh should get engaged more with African countries by dispelling myths and misconception about Africa.
He said that Bangladesh was already engaged with Africa in a limited capacity although there was huge scope to explore the agriculture sector in Africa for more engagement.
鈥榃e have to dispel many myths and misconceptions about Africa and get engaged more with them鈥he Western counties are exploiting them and destroying their culture,鈥� Touhid said while addressing a book launching seminar titled 鈥楲ook Africa: Exploring New Horizons for Bangladesh鈥� organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies on its premises in Dhaka city.
He said that information technology and software industry were already being developed and managed by Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in some African countries while there were untapped opportunities in agriculture sector in Africa, having 54 countries, for Bangladesh.
In Africa, foreign engagement means engaging in mining, said Touhid, a former diplomat, adding that Bangladesh did not for mining in any country.
Despite conflicts in many African countries, there is a kind of unity among them and Bangladesh has many things to learn from them, the foreign adviser told the book launching seminar chaired by former ambassador and independent think-tank Bangladesh Enterprise Institute president Humayun Kabir.
Humayun Kabir underlined the need for changing the mentality and engaging the young generation to bring about a change in the present situation.聽聽
BIISS senior fellow and editor of the book Razia Sultana, foreign ministry director general for North America and former DG for Africa wing AFM Zahid-ul-Islam made presentations on the publication while BRAC Institute of Governance and Development director professor Munshi Sulaiman and associate professor of Global Studies and Governance, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Independent University, Bangladesh Marufa Akter joined the discussion.
BIISS chairman AFM Gousal Azam Sarker and its director general Major General Iftekhar Anis also spoke at the event.
