Foreign Minister urges for free mobility of capital, technology, labour within NAM member states
Our remarkable progress in vaccine development failed to contain the deadly virus due to vaccine nationalism and vaccine politicisation, he said
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has urged for free mobility of capital, technology and labour within the member states of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to ensure socio-economic prosperity.
The NAM member states have to put less restrictions on mobility of resources to help boost economic growth, reduce poverty and a more equitable distribution of income to achieve the major goals of SDGs, Momen said while addressing the opening of a two-day meeting organised in Belgrade on Tuesday, marking the 60th anniversary of the NAM.
The meeting, co-chaired by the president of Azerbaijan and the president of Serbia, was also addressed by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
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The foreign minister highlighted the emerging challenges like climate change, terrorism and violence that warrant collective action by the NAM members. "The basic rights of human beings are still unmet in many parts of the world," he said.
He also highlighted the long persecution of the Rohingyas in Myanmar which call for "our urgent action".
Referring to the life-long struggle of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for ensuring equality, humanity and justice, Momen reiterated the strong conviction of Bangladesh to the founding principles of the NAM. He also said that Bangladesh's peace-centric foreign policy echoes the very spirit of NAM.
Expressing dismay at the global inequalities in access to Covid-19 vaccine, Momen said, "Our remarkable progress in vaccine development failed to contain the deadly virus due to vaccine nationalism and vaccine politicisation."
He urged the global community to address the vaccine gap immediately by treating Covid-19 vaccine as a global public good.
He called upon the NAM countries to work together towards post-pandemic sustainable recovery and proposed to strengthen South-South and triangular cooperation.
He proposed establishment of a forum of ministers of foreign, finance and development of the global South. "The forum will provide a platform to explore potentials of the Southern countries and share experience, expertise, technology and resources to promote sustainable development," he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged wealthy nations to allocate half of the funds they provide to developing nations to tackle climate change to the job of helping those countries to adapt and survive in a warming world.
"Fifty percent of all climate finance provided by developed countries and multilateral development banks should be dedicated to adaptation, to resilience," Guterres said in a video message at the opening of a two-day meeting.
President of Ghana, prime minister of Algeria, foreign and other ministers of different NAM member countries including Indonesia, Nepal, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Gabon, Gambia, Sudan, Haiti, Angola and Palestine, and high-level representatives of over 70 countries are attending the meeting.
