New US ambassador Bernicat wants to promote ‘secure, tolerant’ Bangladesh

New US Ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat plans to promote a Bangladesh that is “secure and tolerant” and help it to move toward its goal of middle-income status.

She conveyed her intention while presenting credentials to President Md Abdul Hamid on Wednesday.

According to a statement, she conveyed her intention to promote a Bangladesh that is "prepared to adapt to climate change and respond to other natural disasters, and (of) supporting a population that enjoys good health and ample educational opportunities”.

Bernicat also stressed on a strong US-Bangladesh relationship “in the interests of United States and the American people, Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi people, as well as the regional and global community”.

“We look to Bangladesh as an important partner in the region, and we know that the people of both countries benefit when we work together, as we do on so many issues,” she said at the Bangabhaban, according to the statement.

Bernicat arrived in Dhaka on Jan 25.

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Human Resources at the Department of State, a position she held since 2012.

Prior to that assignment, she was Ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.

She has experiences in South Asia as she served as Office Director for India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs at the Department of State.

She also served as the Deputy Political Counselor at the US Embassy in New Delhi between 1992 and 1995.