Online Desk:
Lutfey Siddiqi, Chief Advisor’s Special Envoy on International Affairs represented Bangladesh at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting held last week in Davos, Switzerland.
At the invitation of Borge Brende, CEO of the Forum and former Foreign Minister of Norway, Mr. Siddiqi contributed to key discussions on global challenges and opportunities, drawing on and showcasing Bangladesh’s recent experiences.
Apart from public panels where he spoke on the topics of economic development, finance and investment, social movement and reforms, Siddiqi was also called to share insights at the high-level roundtables on geopolitics (chaired by President of Finland Alexander Stubbs), on jobs creation (chaired by President of the World Bank Ajay Banga), on gender-inclusive policy (chaired by President of Honduras Daniel Noboa), and on Myanmar (chaired by President of East Timor Jose Ramos-Horta). He also joined a workshop with trade ministers from ASEAN and East Asia (chaired by Professor Ricardo Hausmann).
On the sidelines, Siddiqi held several formal and informal bilateral meetings including with:
1) US Treasury Secretary and member of President Trump’s cabinet, Scott Bessent
2) EU Commissioners Roxana Minzatu and Jozef Sikela.
3) Thai Foreign Minister Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, South Korean Trade Minister Mr. Yeo Han-koo, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Mr. Akazawa Ryosei, Canadian Finance Minister Mr. Francois Philippe-Champagne, Egyptian Economy Minister Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, and UAE State Minister for Trade Mr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi
4) Director General of WTO Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of WHO Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of IOM Ms. Amy Pope and Secretary General of UNCTAD Ms. Rebeca Grynspan
5) UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Julie Bishop, UK National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell, Chair of Global Commission on Human Trafficking Theresa May, and CEO of International Rescue Committee David Miliband.
The Chief Advisor’s Special Envoy called on the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Dr. Harini Amarasuriya which was also attended by Sri Lanka’s Labour Minister Anil Fernando.
Furthermore, he exchanged greetings with and provided brief updates on Bangladesh to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, IMF President Kristalina Georgieva, Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Governor of California Gavin Newsom, Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear, and Saudi Ambassador to the USA Princess Reema, amongst others.
Siddiqi also held a series of meetings with the private sector including bilaterals with Meta, PayPal, DP World and Louis Dreyfus.
Throughout the week, Siddiqi was accompanied by Mr. Abdullah Mahabub, First Secretary at the Bangladesh mission in Geneva who will help ensure that meeting highlights and follow-up actions remain on record.
