Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said at the closing ceremony of Bangladesh Summit on Sustainable Development 2014 that Bangladesh faced big challenges in many areas, including limitation of resources, employment generation, infrastructure and climate change.
The four-day summit, organised by Dhaka-based Global Citizens’ Forum on Sustainable Development, came to an end yesterday in the capital.
Speaking as the chief guest, the minister said: “We have achieved much in many areas, including poverty reduction, gender equity and enrolment in primary school. We are even ahead of India and Pakistan in some areas.
“But we still have a long way to go, and collaborative initiatives are needed to attain sustainable development,” he said.
Addressing the event, Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed, convener of Global Citizens’ Forum on Sustainable Development, said: “We emit very little green house gas, but climate change is a big threat for us.”
Stating that food security, disaster management and climate change were big challenges, Kholiquzzaman said: “All of our activities centre human interest.”
The speakers also put emphasis on a few areas as imperative in sustainable development, including poverty reduction through social safety net, transparency and accountability in governance, productive employment, and conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.