Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK and the Commonwealth Saida Muna Tasneem has been unanimously elected as the vice-chair of the 26th Assembly of International Mobile Satellite Organisation (IMSO) for the biennial 2021-2022 at the weeklong assembly held recently in London. 

Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK and the Commonwealth Saida Muna Tasneem. Photo: Collected

Saida Muna Tasneem is also a permanent representative of Bangladesh to the IMSO and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). 

The IMSO Assembly is the top policy-making body of the 106-member body, the only international organisation that oversees public satellite safety and security in maritime

communication services provided by mobile satellite communication systems. 

Following her election, High Commissioner Saida Muna Tasneem pledged to work closely with fellow IMSO member states towards improving global mobile satellite communication systems as well as effective implementation of Global Maritime Safety and Security System protocols including the Long Range Identification and Tracking of Ships and Safety of Life at Sea Conventions.

"As a Bay of Bengal maritime nation guided by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visionary maritime safety initiatives including the launching of the Bangabandhu-1 Satellite, I

would, during my two-year tenure, especially pursue greater safety and security of mobile satellite communication systems for sustainable maritime safety," she said. 

Earlier, Saida Muna Tasneem was also unanimously elected as a member of the Commonwealth Foundation Grants Committee for the 2020-2021 term.

Bangladesh is committed to enhancing its engagements and leadership with all-important policy-making bodies of the Commonwealth, including the Commonwealth Foundation that provides Commonwealth grants for funding of socio-economic developments projects in Commonwealth countries, she said.

Bangladesh was previously elected and served as the member of the Commonwealth Executive Committee for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 terms and at the Commonwealth (NGOs) Accreditation Committee for 2019-2020 term.

The Commonwealth Foundation is one of the Commonwealth's three principal agencies alongside the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth of Learning.

In October this year, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen was elected chair of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on Guyana.