Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has urged the international community to devise a ‘clear strategy’ for the economic recovery of the vulnerable countries due to coronavirus pandemic.
The strategy, he said must have provisions of short-medium-long term support from the bilateral and multilateral development partners.
He said protection of jobs of the migrant population and ensuring the flow of vital medical supplies and essential goods, services and food supply chains would be the part of that strategy.
He put forward his idea at the ‘Online Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Contact Group Summit’ Monday.
Azerbaijan, the current Chair of NAM, convened the meeting with its President Ilham Aliyev as its chair.
Heads of states and governments, foreign ministers and other dignitaries of NAM member countries as well as high officials of the United Nations participated at the summit to formulate the NAM's response to the extra-ordinary crisis resulting from the COVID-19.
Dr Momen represented Bangladesh.
He thanked the President of Azerbaijan for his ‘timely’ initiative to convene a virtual NAM Summit level meeting on the pressing global emergency.
He mentioned that the COVID-19 had triggered an overwhelming global public health crisis affecting the health, lives, and livelihoods of peoples of nearly all countries of the world for this they were barely prepared.
He highlighted how Bangladesh has been coping with the pandemic under the direct supervision of Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina, who issued a 31-point directive seeking to mitigate its impact on our population.
He continued that the government has already allocated nearly $11.6 billion to help the vulnerable people and businesses to bear with the shocks of the pandemic.
Underscoring the pandemic's adverse effect on two major sectors of Bangladesh's economy- ready-made garments (RMG) and remittance, Dr Momen urged the NAM membership to work out innovative solutions and approaches to tackle the crisis.
He emphasised that the NAM's response must be embedded in “multilateralism and international solidarity” through forging a robust global partnership with the G7, G20, OECD, and the UN.
He hoped that the challenge of the COVID-19 would galvanise the NAM's efforts and strengthen the Group's resolve to defeat the invincible enemy through meaningful global actions.
