First-ever Bangladeshi director general-elect eyes transparent, service-first IMSO

Newly elected Director General of International Mobile Satellite Organisation (IMSO) Capt Monir Uddin Ahmed says he will work with all the member states in an “inclusive and transparent” way.

“Service to the member states would be my highest priority,” he said at a reception Bangladesh government accorded to him on Sunday.

His election last year was the first time in the 35-year history of IMSO, traditionally dominated by the Europeans, that someone from a developing country had been elected to its helm.

Capt Ahmed of Bangladesh Navy said he would take charges on Apr 15.

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, who personally knew his works for long, was the chief guest of the reception, chaired by Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan.

Senior government officials of these two ministries that worked for his election, and members of the diplomatic corps attended the reception at a Dhaka hotel.

The foreign minister said he had “indeed made us proud with his election”.

His ministry worked vigorously for this election and he personally wrote letters to his counterparts of the 99 member states.

The diplomat-turned-politician minister said he knew Capt Ahmed since long particularly when he was Bangladesh High Commissioner in London from 1996 to 2001.

“He has always impressed me as a man of ideas, passion and perseverance, and his election has proved once again that a man is as big as his dreams,” Ali remarked.

Capt Ahmed defeated formidable candidates from France, Germany, Italy and Romania and won by 49-37 votes. He joined the navy in 1976.

Before his election, he was serving as a Senior Technical Officer of the Maritime Safety Division.

The foreign minister said his nomination required “some courage and foresight” for Bangladesh that the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had showed.

“And that (nomination courage) matters not only for a developing country, but also for a highly sophisticated technical organisation.”

Inter-governmental organisation IMSO’s primary purpose is the oversight of certain public satellite safety and security communication services provided by mobile satellite communication systems.

It combines maritime operations with space-based remote sensing and communication.

The organisation came into being in 1979 as Inmarsat and was renamed IMSO following the adoption of the IMSO Convention and Operating Agreement in 1998.

Bangladesh has had long experience in working with satellite-based communications, with particular focus on weather forecast and geo-spatial data generation.

The foreign minister said Bangladesh’s ability to use satellite images to predict cyclones and evacuate millions to safety in time has often been projected as “a role model” in disaster risk reduction.

“Even then, our own physical presence in the space has virtually been absent so far,” he said, adding that his government had taken “a bold step forward” to have Bangladesh’s own telecommunication satellite into the space.

Capt Ahmed said he was aware of the government’s interest in acquiring orbital slot for launching the satellite ‘Bangabandhu’.

He said he would cooperate in “all possible” ways within his capacity.

He recalled the support provided to him by the government, particularly the shipping and foreign ministries.

The foreign minister also encouraged him “to work towards enhancing the organisation’s visibility for a wider global audience, beyond its largely technical realm”.

Shipping Minister Khan, who was present during the election in London last November, said Capt Ahmed’s “talent, skill, diplomacy, and leadership” enabled him to be elected to director general.