Invest more at home

President urges expatriates

27 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Bss, Dhaka

President Zillur Rahman has urged the expatriates, residing different parts of the United Kingdom, to invest more at home for upgrading Bangladesh to a middle income country by 2021. “All including the expatriates would have to do hard work unitedly and sincerely being imbued with patriotism for building a happy, prosperous and dignified Bangladesh,” he said this while he was speaking at a reception, accorded to him by the Bangladeshi expatiates in the UK at the Kensington Hall in London on Saturday night, according to a message received here yesterday. Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni also spoke at the reception with eminent journalist, columnist and writer Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury in the chair. Younger sister of the Prime Minister Sheikh Rehana, members of House of Lords Baroness Pola Uddin, son of the President Nazmul Hasan MP and a huge number of Bangladeshi expatriates were present at the reception. Zillur lauded the role of expatriates for sending remittance which is marked as one of the major fuels of the country's socio-economic development. He said the present government is considering making the expatriates voters of Bangladesh. Zillur said 22 districts of the country achieved bumper production of Aman paddy in the last season because of a number of measures undertaken by the department concerned. He said the government is working relentlessly to turn the country into a middle income one by 2021. Bangladesh is playing a leading role in the international arena in raising voice against adverse impacts of climate change, he said. The president congratulated Rushanara Ali for being a member of the House of Commons (British Parliament) as the first Bangladeshi expatriate and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's granddaughter Rezwana Siddique Tulip as an elected councillor.