He said Bangladesh is energising economic diplomacy and seeking a competitive edge in the current globalised world in five other key areas--access to new markets and enhancing export to the old ones, investment, manpower export, development assistance, and information and communication technology.

Morshed Khan was addressing a certificate awarding ceremony of the course on "Diplomacy, International Relations and Foreign Policy" organised by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) at its conference room. Former foreign secretary and BEI President Farooq Sobhan chaired the function.

Besides reinforcing extended neighbourhood diplomacy, he said, Bangladesh is exploring new areas of relationship with the "Go East" policy to supplement the existing South Asia and West Asia ties.

Consolidating the existing relations with traditional friends and development partners like the US, UK, Japan and Europe, Bangladesh is also looking to new dimensions including Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Eastern Europe, Khan said.

Morshed Khan said to strengthen regional, inter-regional and multilateral cooperation, sustained efforts are being pursued on three fronts--bilateral, regional and global.

Bilaterally, Bangladesh's unwavering policy is to maintain close relations with all its neighbours on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs as well as settlement of outstanding bilateral issues through dialogue and negotiation, he said.

On the regional front, Bangladesh is committed to maintain the positive momentum and credibility of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) to promote its socioeconomic mandate, create a broad-based climate of confidence building and reduce tension in the region.

About global front, the foreign minister said a cardinal priority for Bangladesh is to play a leading role through concrete initiatives mixed with moderation and pragmatism in all socioeconomic forums to promote the cause of developing countries as a whole and the least developed countries in particular.

Bangladesh's commitment to strengthen the role of the UN as the central organ for the cooperative management of the world problems and our membership of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Commonwealth, and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) have enhanced our representative capacity and contribution to the goals of peace, security, justice and development.

To keep pace with the circumstances, Bangladesh is seeking a new agenda and have identified two key factors--the impact of globalisation, and new ideas and techniques generated by general and information technology, he said.

He said the 9/11 incidents caused another turmoil in the conduct of diplomacy. A new ideological divide was created with a religious bias and these developments have affected inter-state relations.

Over 30 participants from different professions participated in the three-month course. Diplomats from different foreign missions, former ambassadors, and academics attended the certificate distribution ceremony.