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Minister of State Annen visits Bangladesh
Niels Annen, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, will be in Dhaka from 18 to 20 July.
While there, he will have political talks with Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali as well as a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Among the topics of foreign and regional affairs under discussion, particular focus will be on the Rohingya crisis.
Prior to his departure, Minister of State Annen said:
On my first official trip to Dhaka, we will be talking about the response to the Rohingya crisis, for which Bangladesh deserves our respect and to which Germany is also providing important assistance. I will also use my discussions with unions and textile buyers to call for sustainable and humane working conditions in the local textile industry.
Background information:
Minister of State Annen will meet members of the political opposition and hold talks with representatives of civil society. His intention is to hear about current developments in the human rights situation in Bangladesh. The elections held at the end of 2018 need to meet minimum democratic standards.
Germany is providing humanitarian assistance and stabilisation projects to support Bangladesh, which has taken in more than a million Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar. Minister of State Annen will therefore also meet representatives of international aid organisations and the German Red Cross.
During this visit, an agreement will be signed on the production and use of biometric e passports in Bangladesh – the largest ever German-Bangladeshi business project.
Germany has been one of the most important consumers of clothing made in Bangladesh for some years, and it is calling for humane standards of occupational health and safety and other labour rights for the millions, most of them women, who work in the sector.