Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has reiterated his proposal to create a ministerial forum on South-South Cooperation to explore potentials and share lessons on priorities and concerns of the Global South.
"It is a high time to establish a forum comprising the Foreign and Finance or Development Cooperation Ministers of the Global South for them to regularly meet and exchange views on critical issues, discuss opportunities and challenges," he said.
The foreign minister attended an Ambassadorial-level meeting at the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the UN in New York on Friday, reports BSS citing a message received in Dhaka on Saturday.
The meeting was participated by a select group of Permanent Representatives from Argentina, China, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Malawi, Morocco, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, Solomon Islands, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.
The Bangladesh foreign minister made the proposal to create the Ministerial Forum on South-South Cooperation at the BAPA+40 Conference, held in Argentina in March 2019.
"I have received very encouraging supports on my proposal from the President of the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General and a number of ministers from the Global South," Momen said.
The foreign minister also expressed readiness to volunteer in hosting the first meeting of such ministerial forum at a convenient time this year in Bangladesh to start off the process.
Referring to the critical role played by South-South Cooperation for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other internationally agreed development commitments, the participating member states in the meeting expressed their deep gratitude to the leadership of Bangladesh for the proposal of the establishment of a ministerial forum.
During the meeting, Cuba, Kenya, Egypt, Rwanda, and Morocco voiced their commitment and whole-hearted support to work closely with Bangladesh in the establishment of the forum very soon.
All the participants considered the proposal as a steppingstone in exploiting the untapped opportunities in the South-South Cooperation on multiple areas of interests including trade, finance, investment and knowledge sharing.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in New York moderated the meeting and delivered his welcome remarks.
A representative from the UN Office for South-South Cooperation was also present at the meeting.