Bangladesh received a high appreciation from the UK All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for its commendable successes in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), poverty reduction, women empowerment, and transformation of its economy in the recent years.

APPG met on February 29, 2016 at the UK Houses of Parliament.

Chair of APPG, Anne Main MP, presided over the meeting, which was attended by Desmond Swayne, Minister of State for International Development, Baroness Shreela Flather and Jim Fitzpatrick MP, Paul Scully MP, Rupa Huq MP and Bangladesh High Commissioner in London Md Abdul Hannan among others.

Claiming his visit as highly productive for the opportunity of engagements with top leadership, ministers, senior officials, CSOs and NGOs, Minister Swayne expressed his deep satisfaction on the success of the visit.

Other parliamentarians, who recently visited Bangladesh, also expressed their appreciations. Desmond Swayne admired Bangladesh garment sectors' remarkable transformation from low to high-value end products. Baroness Flather praised the Bangladesh Government for creating jobs for millions of women in these sectors, which impacted positively on addressing other social challenges like child marriage.

Bangladesh High Commissioner briefed the meeting on the socio-economic developments of Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.