New Bangladesh embassy gears up to bolster ties with Denmark

Denmark was one of the first European countries to recognise independent Bangladesh and open a mission in Dhaka in 1972. It took 43 years for Dhaka to open an embassy in Copenhagen. A mission was established there only in May last year.

But the first-ever ambassador in this Nordic country, Muhammad A Muhith, is all set with his plans to bolster the ties.

“Denmark is a very trusted friend of ours,” he told a group of Bangladeshi journalists currently visiting Copenhagen on Thursday. “We have lot of work to do together”.

Denmark is one of the leading development partners of Bangladesh, giving support to many sectors including water, sanitation, agriculture, human rights and development.

Bilateral trade is heavily in favour of Bangladesh with Dhaka enjoying duty-free market access of all products except arms.

Readymade clothes is the main export item, with the new mission looking for markets for other traditional items like pharmaceuticals, ceramics, and leather goods.

But the ambassador said he had set his priorities differently and “out of the box”.

Denmark is globally acclaimed for its expertise in green issues. It has planned to be the first country in the world to completely replace fossil fuel by renewable energy by 2050.

“To me, it is their great commitment to the world,” Muhith said, as Denmark is not a country affected by climate change, yet heavily focuses on green technologies.

“Here lies the scope for our work,” he said, “My top priority is to take their expertise, technology and know-how. They are also keen to help Bangladesh.”

Currently 43 percent of Danish electricity comes from wind. One can easily notice that Danes turn off their engines when cars stop at traffic lights.

“This is to use energy efficiently,” said the ambassador, who was also initially surprised to know that over 40 percent people ride their bicycles instead of using cars during peak hours.

Children, even during snowfall, pedal to school on their bicycles.

By this, he believes “the children learn how to make decisions and take risks. It has a positive effect on their lives.”

Ambassador Muhammad A. Muhith with the Queen of Denmark during the New Year Reception at Christiansborg Palace on Jan 5

“They are very climate sensitive and they are always with us on climate change issues,” he said. “It is also a country that fulfils its global commitment to spend 0.7 percent of the GDP for aid.”

“It’s a private-sector driven country. There are no bureaucratic problems. So it is easy to do business with them. Bangladesh can also be an attractive destination for the Danish businesses,” he said.

The Danish government recently invited a Bangladesh delegation to Copenhagen to show their green technologies.

They have also rolled out their Bangladesh cooperation programmes in line with Dhaka’s own Seventh Five-Year Plan.

Bangladesh has a small community in Denmark with an official figure showing 1,385 Bangladeshis living there.

There is a lot of scope to work with Denmark, a Bangladeshi said, but the new embassy has only one officer, other than the ambassador.

The Denmark embassy in Bangladesh recently featured the ambassador in its website when he went to Dhaka after presenting his credentials in October last year.

The ambassador, who came to Denmark after three years as a deputy chief of mission at the Bangladesh embassy in Washington, is also accredited to Estonia and Iceland.

Estonia is known as a technology leader in the world, and its president has also assured the ambassador of providing support to Bangladesh.