<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen hosted a dinner on Sunday in honour of the newly arrived and outgoing diplomats stationed in Dhaka.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It was a farewell and welcome for outgoing and newly arrived ambassadors,” one of the diplomats familiar with the event told UNB.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, it could not be known whether the current political situation came up for discussion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bangladesh Anne Gerard van Leeuwen paid a farewell call on Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Sunday afternoon at the State Guest House Padma.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recognizing the Dutch-Bangladesh bilateral relations as solid, the Foreign Secretary thanked the Ambassador for his contributions towards building it and keeping it on an upward trajectory.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He stated that the Netherlands is an important country for Bangladesh and underscored that the partnership and investment in the areas of agriculture and agro-processing, supply chain management, IT and ITES, climate change and renewable energy would be beneficial for both the economies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Foreign Secretary praised the Dutch leadership in the circular economy, modern sustainable agriculture, green energy and delta plan for a sustainable future and sought Dutch support for skill development in these sectors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He thanked the Dutch government for humanitarian assistance to the forcibly displaced Rohingyas, temporarily sheltered in Bangladesh, and urged more support of the Netherlands towards sustainable repatriation to their homeland Myanmar.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ambassador Leeuwen expressed satisfaction for receiving all-out support of the Bangladesh government during his tour of duty in Bangladesh. He underscored the need for more knowledge-to-knowledge (K2K) and business-to-business (B2B) connections for the prosperity of both countries and highlighted ‘Orange Corners’ established by the Dutch government to promote start-ups, skill development and private sector cooperation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Ambassador thanked Bangladesh for hosting 1.1 million Rohingyas and hoped for a peaceful solution to the crisis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Foreign Secretary hosted a lunch in honour of the departing Ambassador at the end of the meeting and handed over a gift as memento. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>