The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bangladesh, Joris van Bommel, paid a courtesy call on Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon at his office in the Ministry on Wednesday.
During the meeting, Ambassador van Bommel congratulated the Minister on assuming office.
He said that the Netherlands and Bangladesh have enjoyed a strong bilateral relationship since Bangladesh’s independence, which has expanded significantly over the years to education, healthcare, development cooperation, trade and commerce, among other sectors.
He expressed his country’s interest in working closely with the Government of Bangladesh to further strengthen these ties.
The Information and Broadcasting Minister said that since assuming office, the present government has been working to bring qualitative improvements to governance and public service delivery.
He expressed Bangladesh’s interest in collaborating with the Netherlands in the fields of media, communication and digital transformation.
The Minister noted that the rapid advancement of new media, artificial intelligence (AI) and the digital ecosystem have created both new opportunities and unprecedented challenges.
He emphasized that while ensuring freedom of expression remains a fundamental responsibility of the State, protecting citizens from misinformation and disinformation is equally important.
He stressed the need for developing effective and forward-looking strategies to address these challenges and expressed interest in learning from the Netherlands’ experience and best practices in this regard.
Ambassador van Bommel underscored the importance of developing modern policy frameworks to address the challenges of the digital age. He briefed the Minister on various initiatives and measures undertaken by the Netherlands in this field.
Information and Broadcasting Secretary Mahbuba Farzana and Additional Secretary Md Shah Alam were also present during the meeting.
