Remarks

Speech by Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Judith A. Chammas Welcoming Visit of Bangladeshi Foreign Service Academy Students to U.S. Embassy

U.S. Embassy Dhaka

August 29, 2005

Salaam aleikum, namoshkar and good morning.

Let me be the first to welcome you to the United States Embassy in Bangladesh. The idea for this visit first surfaced almost a year ago, when the Director General of our Foreign Service visited your Academy on Bailey Road. Realizing that new diplomats of our two countries had little opportunity to interact, we thought “wouldn’t it be great to arrange an event where the two could meet, and even learn from each other.”

Thanks to the open mind of your principal, Ambassador Jamil Majid, and his hardworking staff, we have finally made it happen.

You have a full day today, learning about several of our Embassy’s sections and agencies, meeting with our Entry Level officers, and enjoying lunch at the American Club. Before you head out there, though, I want to tell you about what binds us all together here at the Embassy.

Every year, representatives from all the sections and agencies in the Embassy come together to evaluate and update our Mission Performance Plan. A Mission Performance Plan, or MPP, explicitly sets out the goals and objectives of a U.S. Embassy. It starts with several broad goals which are then broken down and evaluated using individual strategies and programs. In Bangladesh, we have six general goals: preventing and responding to terrorism, strengthening democratic systems and practices, ensuring that American values are understood and respected, improving economic growth and development, bettering health care, and improving our facilities. These goals are broad, so I will say a few words on each one. It is important to remember, however, that we are pursuing all of our goals in cooperation with the Bangladesh government. We do not have any illusions about the necessity of this cooperation.  Both the U.S. government and the Bangladesh government must work together to achieve these goals.

Prevention and response to terrorism: Historically, international terrorism has not been a significant problem here.  Through sharing information, skills and technologies, we can help prevent terrorism from rising here. Cooperation between our two countries is crucial.

Democratic systems and practices:  Bangladesh has had over a decade of relatively free and fair elections.  However, elections alone do not ensure the survival of a democracy.  Strong democratic systems and practices, including an effective legislature and mechanisms for protecting human rights, must be in place.  We don’t claim to have the perfect system in the U.S., but we do have 229 years of learning from our mistakes.  So we can share our experiences and knowledge, adapting programs and practices to fit into a Bangladeshi context.

Ensuring that American values are respected: This goal is two-fold. On the one hand, this involves telling Bangladeshis about all the good work we do here. While many Bangladeshis respect and even admire the United States, they also may disagree with many of our policies. And that brings me to one of the greatest thing about the United States – we thrive on our differences of opinion.  That’s what democracy is all about.  Our government formulates policies based on the wishes and desires of our people, expressed through the democratic process. Only when vocal minorities express their ideas -- in ways accepted by society at large -- can popular opinion be swayed. At the Embassy we promote the protection of freedom of speech.  This, and many other so-called American values, such as equal opportunity for all, is a truly universal value.

Improving economic growth and development: Since Bangladesh’s independence, the U.S. has contributed $5 billion to development projects here. Along with many other donor countries and organizations, the global community has helped the Bangladeshi people to make huge advancements in limiting population growth, health and nutrition, electrification and many other areas. Now, while we still contribute to development projects, we are starting to focus our energies more on traditional economic growth; as Ambassador Thomas used to say, “Trade, not aid.”  Bangladesh has tremendous potential for economic growth, and the U.S. has the potential to be a huge partner in trade.

Improving health care:  Bangladesh has made tremendous strides in health care over the past three decades, largely as the result of foreign aid. Now, it is time for non-NGO institutions to develop. Recently, we have focused on infrastructure building.  If we invest in helping to build infrastructure, less assistance will be needed in the future.  Bangladesh will be able to ensure the health of its population.

Facilities: Our last goal does not have nearly as much to do with bilateral policies, though working together is still important. Our General Services Office is devoted entirely to maintaining and upgrading the facilities and resources used to run our Embassy. From modernizing the buildings we work in to negotiating the leases on our houses and running our procurement office, our General Services Officers strive to keep our Embassy running smoothly and improving constantly.  We appreciate the close cooperation of the Bangladeshi government in all of these important operations.

The goals in the MPP are the glue that binds us all together. Using the 70-page document as a guide, we can ensure that all of our sections and agencies work in concert. Cooperation – both among our Embassy sections and between our two countries, is essential to achieving our mutual goals. Just as you represent the next generation of Bangladeshi diplomacy, I think that today represents the beginning of the next generation of US-Bangladesh relations.

Now, please enjoy the coffee and refreshments and the rest of your day. Thank you for coming and I look forward to meeting you all again in the future.

 

Note:  A Bangla translation of this article is also available from the American Center.  If you are interested in the translation, please call the American Center Press Section (Tel: 8813440-4, Fax: 9881677; e-mail: DhakaPA@state.gov; Website: dhaka.usembassy.gov