Farewell remarks on the occasion of the Farewell lunch for HE Haider, High Commissioner of Bangladesh, 16 January 2008

Your Excellency, High Commissioner Haider
Your Excellency, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps
Your Excellencies, members of The Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

It my pleasure to welcome you to this luncheon to bid farewell to the High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Ms Nasima Haider, who has represented the Republic of Bangladesh in South Africa with great distinction since her accreditation as High Commissioner in July 2005

During her term as Ambassador to South Africa, High Commissioner Haider has nurtured the ties and contributed to making sure that the relations established between our two countries remain sound.

We established relations between our two countries in October 1994, and this was followed by the opening of the High Commission of Bangladesh in Pretoria, while the South African High Commissioner to New Delhi was accredited in a non-residential capacity to Bangladesh.

Excellency, the high level visit to Bangladesh by former president Mandela in 1997 showed the interest and commitment that South Africa has in growing the relationship between our two countries. It is through that initial visit and several other visits were undertaken by the First Lady, Mrs Zanele Mbeki, and where South Africa started taking note of the developments that Bangladesh has made in terms of poverty alleviation and micro-financing.

It was during the visit to Bangladesh by Mrs Mbeki during February 2004, in her capacity as Chairperson of the Women’s Development Bank Trust that South Africa learned of the importance of what could be gained from your experiences on poverty alleviation on Bangladesh through Micro-Financing institutions.

South Africa and indeed the International Community have showed their interest and respect for your countries’ work in this regard and this was evident when Mr Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2006 for his Grameen Bank which specialises in lifting people out of extreme poverty through micro-loans. Initiatives such as the one by Mr Yunus should be commendable as they try to alleviate the poverty and underdevelopment.

High Commissioner,

Bangladesh and South Africa have consistently showed cooperation in multilateral organisations with the objective of promoting the development agenda and particularly in the alleviation of poverty. We have worked together in organisations such as the UN and its agencies, the Commonwealth, the NAM and the IOR-ARC to address these issues of mutual concern. We hope that the existence of this cordial cooperation will continue to bring positive results in our efforts to eradicate global poverty by 2015 as set by the Millennium Development Goals.

Your Excellency,

You already know that the South African government has appointed Ms Buyi Pheto as Ambassador designate to Colombo, Sri Lanka and she will be accredited as non residential Ambassador to Bangladesh. This will allow for more bilateral engagement between South Africa and Bangladesh.

South Africa will together with the High Commission, will also continue to ensure that bilateral engagements continue to prosper in the future. We hope that these consultations will further the proposed Skills Acquisition Cooperation and the Trade Agreements between our two countries.

Your Excellency,

You have made many friends here in South Africa. I know that you will be remembered here for many things, your charm and warmth and for your exquisite saris!. But I would like to ad a special thank you to you for single handedly boosting our local tourism industry!

Your friends and colleagues in the diplomatic corps as well as your many SOuth African friends will remember your keen interest in our South AFrican landscape. This is clear when we talk to you of your extensive travel through all nine provinces of our country. One of your most recently recalled trips will be visit you undertook through the Karoo to the Namaqualand region where you enjoyed seeing the flowers during the spring season.

You will also be remembered for your pottery skills after enrolling in pottery classes in Pretoria as hobby.

High Commissioner, as we look forward to welcoming your successor in the near future, please accept our sincere gratitude for our kindness, professionalism and friendship over the past years. And for your initiatives in strengthening the ties between our two countries. I hope that you will always remember your time in South Africa with a great deal of fondness.

Your Excellencies please raise your glasses and join me in wishing Her Excellency all the best for her new assignment in Egypt.