Germany committed to deepen bilateral ties with Bangladesh: envoy

German Ambassador in Dhaka Peter Fahrenholtz. Photo is taken from the website of the German Embassy in Dhaka.

German Ambassador in Dhaka Peter Fahrenholtz today said that Germany is looking forward to further deepen bilateral relations with Bangladesh and would remain committed in its future partnership with the country.

"I can assure you that we'll remain committed in our future partnership (with Bangladesh)," he said while addressing the inaugural session of Bangladesh-German Consultations 2020 held at NEC-2 Conference Room in Dhaka's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.

Referring to the recent visit of Federal German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dr Gerd Muller on February 25-26, the German envoy said Dr Muller made it clear that Germany would stand beside the government and the people of Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue.

Germany supports Bangladesh in its call that the government of Myanmar has to create the condition for safe, voluntary and dignified return of the Rohingyas to their home country, Fahrenholtz said.

"This is an important step forward by the international community in dealing with the crisis," he said.

He said Bangladesh's economic growth has to continue in the context of SDGs while graduating from the LDC status.

Diversification of the economy is crucial and efforts are on to realise it, he said adding that there is a good chance for Bangladesh to achieve GSP plus facility in the European Union.

Lauding Bangladesh's socio-economic progress, Fahrenholtz said poverty has come down to 20 per cent while extreme poverty is in single digit range. "This is really a remarkable achievement. Education, health services and energy are being provided to almost everyone," he said.

Bangladesh is the world's 38th largest economy with the highest growth rate in Asia and soon it will move further, the envoy said.

Germany currently provides technical and financial assistance to Bangladesh in some 17 ongoing projects.

The Bangladesh-German Consultations are discussing a wide range of areas including energy efficiency, renewable energy, poverty reduction, climate change adaptation, and the Rohingya issue, among others.