Masud Momen likely to become new foreign secretary

Masud Bin Momen, the current Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, is likely to become the next Foreign Secretary.

He previously served as Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan and Italy.

The longest-serving Foreign Secretary of the country - M Shahidul Haque - goes on retirement in December, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka.

Meanwhile, current Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan Rabab Fatima is going to be the next Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, a diplomat told UNB.

As a diplomat, she has extensive experiences  and specialisation in human rights and humanitarian issues.

Things will be finalised  after the upcoming UN General Assembly to be held at the UN headquarters in the last week of the current month, he said.

Masud Momen obtained a bachelor's degree in economics from Dhaka University.

He holds MSS in Economics from the Dhaka University  and a master's degree in International Relations  from Tufts University in the United States, and belongs to the 1985 batch of BCS (FA) cadre.

From 1998 to 2001, he was Director in charge of the Foreign Ministry's United Nations Wing and Foreign Secretary's Office in Dhaka.

He served as Director of Poverty Alleviation at Saarc  Secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 2001 to 2004.

After that, he was Deputy Commissioner at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, India, from 2004 to 2006.

From 2006 to 2008, he was Director-General for Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for matters related to South Asia, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.

Masud Momen had served as Permanent Representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Besides, he served in Bangladesh Permanent Mission in New York and Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad in different capacities.

On November 3, 2015, the government appointed Masud Momen as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations.

On the other hand, Fatima, a career diplomat, belonging  to the 1986 batch of BCS (FA) cadre, returned to the Foreign  Ministry  after long 10 years as she served on lien with the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) from 2006-15.

Earlier, she served in Bangladesh Permanent Mission to UN in New York, Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UNOG in Geneva and Bangladesh embassy in Beijing in different capacities.

Fatima received her Master's in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA.

In July last year, Foreign Secretery Haque was promoted to senior secretary of the government. He has been serving as Foreign Secretary of the government of Bangladesh since January 10, 2013.

He was the chair of the 9th Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD).