The electronic passport (e-passport) service has been launched at Bangladesh Embassy in Athens to ensure a hassle-free passport service for the Bangladeshi expatriates living in Greece.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal inaugurated the e-passport programme at the function on Monday at Bangladesh Embassy in Athens, according to a message received Thursday, reports BSS.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Greece Ashud Ahmed, Department of Immigration and Passport (DIP) Director General Major General Mohammad Ayub Chowdhury, Additional Secretary of the Security Service Division Md Abdullah Al Masud Chowdhury, Director General (Consular and Welfare Wing) of Foreign Ministry Kazi Russel Pervez, Chief Operating Officer of a German technological institution VERIDOS gmbh Marc-Julian Siewert and President of Bangladesh community in Greece Haji Abdul Quddus spoke at the function, among others.
Asaduzzaman said the machine-readable passport (MRP) was introduced in 2010 as part of the implementation of Digital Bangladesh envisaged by Sheikh Hasina after taking charge as Prime Minister and e-passport was introduced this year as a continuation of the development.
Noting that the e-passport service is big progress towards building a digital Bangladesh, he said, the introduction of the e-passport will on the one hand make the process of passport and immigration easier and safer for the Bangladeshi people during travelling and on the other hand improve the international standard of Bangladeshi passport and the country's reputation.
Later, the minister along with the ambassador and other guests visited the electronic passport system set up at the consular wing of the embassy and witnessed the first enrolment of the e-passport at the mission. Asaduzzaman then handed over enrolment slips of e-passport to two applicants.
The minister also handed over keys to a mobile unit of e-passport to the ambassador. The mobile unit will facilitate the Bangladeshi expatriates living in the remote islands of Greece, Malta and Albania to apply for the e-passport through consular camps without coming to the embassy in Athens.