DHAKA: Bangladesh made a strong call for better sharing of ideas and information on development successes among the southern nations at the first High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership that ended in Mexico on April 16.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith who was leading the Bangladesh delegation at the global congregation on development cooperation, highlighted the benefits that South-South Cooperation can bring in the field of trade, investment, labour migration and knowledge sharing.

Over 1500 participants from over 130 countries came together at the two day long Summit on April 15 and 16 to discuss the progress made so far in development co-operation and to anchor the Global Partnership in a post-2015 development framework.

The Bangladesh delegation also included Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuyan, ERD Secretary M Mejbahuddin and Kazi Nabil Ahmed MP.

Governments, businesses, private foundations and civil societies came up with a joint Communiqué and 28 new initiatives during the meeting to push forward effective development co-operation worldwide.

Finance Minister also made a strong case for domestic resource mobilization for development during the High-Level Meeting.

Showcasing the example of Bangladesh, he informed that the tax/GDP ratio in Bangladesh had gone up from 10.5 percent in 2009 to 13.5 percent in 2014.

On April 15, Muhith hold a bilateral meeting with the UNDP Administrator Helen Clark where they discussed the Bangladesh Government’s plan to establish an ‘International Institute on Southern Innovation’ in Dhaka.

They also discussed the economic growth prospects of the country.

The two day long High Level Meeting was formally inaugurated on April 15 through a formal opening ceremony which was attended among others by Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurría and President of Mexico Peña Nieto.

The meeting included five plenary sessions and 28 focus sessions on a range of critical themes for development.

This is the first High Level Meeting organized by the Global Partnership for effective Development Cooperation or GPEDC.

Launched in Busan, South Korea in December 2011, GPEDC helps nations, businesses and organisations work better together to end poverty.  

BDST: 1645 HRS, APR 19, 2014