National day of France

Ambassador’s Message

Our French Bastille Day.
I convey my condolences to all the friends and families of the victims of the attack launched on Holey Bakery Restaurant 1st July. I wrote this message in June. Since then, this horror happened.
This is why I decided that we would not celebrate our National Day as we traditionally celebrate 14th July: it would not have been appropriate, considering that the country is in mourning.
It remains that 14th July is an opportunity for me to recall our relation with Bangladesh and to comment our challenges.
France and Bangladesh are old friends. France is part of the so-called “old continent”, Europe, having played an important role in the European history. Bangladesh is part of the Asian continent, with a very particular place between Eastern Asia and the Indian world, and therefore with an important role to play too, as a bridge for the integration of the region. France and Bangladesh are different, but we have many fields in common.
France has a long history, that enabled us to build our institutions and to shape our national spirit step by step. Now, our country is strong, France is a pillar of the European Union, and my country is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. These positions mean that we face huge responsibilities: we are fully committed to addressing the challenges our world will have to cope with in the coming decades.
Among the many challenges France is committed to addressing, energy transition is a very important one: we have been living in the last two centuries in a world born from the industrial revolution in western countries. Our linear economic model lays on a never-ending search for producing more, increasing our national product, earning more. But what is the finality, if at the end of the day, access to water, food, and therefore health and education are challenged?
That’s the reason why we have to consider that a new model has to be invented. We must invent a circular economy, based on low carbon emission, in order to avoid the massive destruction of our planet, and therefore to make it possible for our mankind to continue to live in the environment our earth offers to us. As Bangladesh is becoming a middle-income country, it will
have to be part of this revolution, all the more as Bangladesh is one of the first continental countries
exposed to the impact of climate change.
Another challenge that we are facing is extremism: unfortunately, intolerance has become a global brand. France has a secular model, that we want to preserve as the number-one value of our society. We consider that religion is a private issue and we refuse religion to force the public debate.
We will never accept the dictatorship of those who kill on behalf of religion. We will always fight terrorism and violent extremism. This is what we do in the Middle-East, in Africa, but also in France and in Europe. Here in Bangladesh, we observe that the country has to face the tremendous challenge of violent extremism. Our world is global and this threat is also a global threat. We must fight it together.
Our third challenge is Europe: we respect the British choice to leave the European Union. But we must draw the consequences of this choice. The European institutions and our national leaders must consider their mistakes. We must shape a new European Union, with a vision and a project for Europe. We must shape a transparent and comprehensive European Union, a strong European Union focusing on the welfare of the European citizens, a EU protecting its business community, encouraging its research and technology, and a Union capable of protecting itself from the threats. From a French point of view, a lot remains to be done in order to ensure that the EU will become this comprehensive institution taking everybody on board. There is no other option in order to preserve peace: a divided Europe has only brought wars in the past centuries. Here in Bangladesh, we will soon have a collocated Embassy with Germany.
We are proud to say that, after World World 2 and only two generations, our relation with Germany is a strategic relation and a force that we have developed within the European Union. We have shown the world that the past is one thing, but the future is ours. We will build a new European Union.
Bangladesh is also committed in its march towards the future. France is supporting Bangladesh in this project. Building a country needs embracing the diversity of the national sensibilities and perceptions, as they are all what Bangladesh is. Our own experience taught us that freedom of expression, diversity and strong institutions are key-factors for development. Sharing our experiences and technologies, cooperating for a better understanding of the environment and thus for a better anticipation of the future, supporting Bangladesh in some key-projects is our way to accompany Bangladesh in its march towards the future.
Vive la France et Vive le Bangladesh!

H.E. Sophie Aubert
Ambassador of France to Bangladesh

A few words about French COP21 Presidency

France is leading the Presidency of the 21ST Conference of Parties on climate change. Within this framework and along with Morocco, France is preparing the 22nd Conference of Parties, due to take place next November in Marrakesh. What are the challenges for COP21 Presidency?
It is all about the society we want to live in. The Paris Agreement on climate change adopted in December 2015 was a great victory for France and for the world: for the first time in our human history, we all agreed that our linear economic model was a disaster for our earth and for mankind. We all agreed that if we keep on living with the same references, we will destroy our global environment.
We live in a world focusing on extracting, producing, consuming and throwing. This is the so-called linear economy. We must abandon this model for a new one based on low carbon economy, as human greenhouse gas emissions have led to an increase of the concentration of CO2 by 40% compared to the pre-industrial era. This rise is responsible for global warming. Natural greenhouse gas emissions are necessary because, thanks to them, our planet has maintained a global temperature which allows us and our environment to develop in a balanced way, but human activity has broken this balance.
We have no choice but to change the way we live. This commitment taken through the Paris agreement has to be confirmed with the ratification of this document - what France and other countries have already done - and has to be translated into action. This is what COP22 in Marrakesh will have to do: act.
We have no additional time to change our global model, because if we don’t change it, global temperature will increase far beyond the 2°C target by the end of the century.
Technologies are here to drive this revolution, and France is leading the move through the business and climate dialogue Paris launched in 2015. Now the entire society has to re-direct its funds towards environment-friendly investments. The green climate fund is welcome, but the dynamic has to be shared from everywhere. Wherever we are, when we have to invest in energy, in infrastructure, we have to think about the compatibility of this investment with our major global goal: preserving the sustainability of our environment.

H.E. Sophie Aubert Ambassador of France to Bangladesh

The France Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 20 years

The France Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry is celebrating its 20 years during the French Annual Event on 2nd and 3rd December 2016.
A 2-day French Trade Show with a closing gala dinner will be organized on the occasion. French products and technology will be exhibited during the trade show and the gala dinner will have French food from the different regions of France with a French and Bangla cultural event.
The Chamber started with 40 members and presently has risen to more than 150 including French companies operating in Bangladesh and local companies as agent/distributors of French companies from various sectors of business.
 It has an Executive Committee of 18 members with a President, 2 Vice Presidents, a Treasurer and EC members.
The Chief Patron is the Ambassador of France and the Economic Counsellor of French Economic Department also attends the EC meeting.
The Chamber works in close collaboration with the French Embassy having the same objective of developing trade relations between the 2 countries.
 The office is managed by a Director, a Business Consultant and an Administrative Officer.
To achieve its objective, the CCIFB offers different services to its members and new French companies prospecting to do business with Bangladesh and vice versa.
As a privileged partner of Business France (the French Agency For Foreign Trade), the Chamber provides its services to French companies with market study, information on market access and match-making with B2B meetings.
The Chamber is developing its new dynamic website to facilitate business promotion. The updated Members Directory will also be published this year.

National day of France

Ambassadors Message Our French Bastille Day. I convey my condolences to all the friends and families of the victims of the attack launched on Holey Bakery Restaurant 1st July. I wrote this message in June. Since then, this horror happened. This is why I decided that we would not celebrate our National Day as we traditionally celebrate 14th July: it would not have been appropriate, considering that the country is in mourning. It remains that 14th July is an opportunity for me to recall our relation with Bangladesh and to comment our challenges. France and Bangladesh are old friends. France is part of the so-called old continent, Europe, having played an important role in the European history. Bangladesh is part of the Asian continent, with a very particular place between Eastern Asia and the Indian world, and therefore with an important role to play too, as a bridge for the integration of the region. France and Bangladesh are different, but we have many fields in common. France has a long history, that enabled us to build our institutions and to shape our national spirit step by step. Now, our country is strong, France is a pillar of the European Union, and my country is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. These positions mean that we face huge responsibilities: we are fully committed to addressing the challenges our world will have to cope with in the coming decades. Among the many challenges France is committed to addressing, energy transition is a very important one: we have been living in the last two centuries in a world born from the industrial revolution in western countries. Our linear economic model lays on a never-ending search for producing more, increasing our national product, earning more. But what is the finality, if at the end of the day, access to water, food, and therefore health and education are challenged? Thats the reason why we have to consider that a new model has to be invented. We must invent a circular economy, based on low carbon emission, in order to avoid the massive destruction of our planet, and therefore to make it possible for our mankind to continue to live in the environment our earth offers to us. As Bangladesh is becoming a middle-income country, it will have to be part of this revolution, all the more as Bangladesh is one of the first continental countries exposed to the impact of climate change. Another challenge that we are facing is extremism: unfortunately, intolerance has become a global brand. France has a secular model, that we want to preserve as the number-one value of our society. We consider that religion is a private issue and we refuse religion to force the public debate. We will never accept the dictatorship of those who kill on behalf of religion. We will always fight terrorism and violent extremism. This is what we do in the Middle-East, in Africa, but also in France and in Europe. Here in Bangladesh, we observe that the country has to face the tremendous challenge of violent extremism. Our world is global and this threat is also a global threat. We must fight it together. Our third challenge is Europe: we respect the British choice to leave the European Union. But we must draw the consequences of this choice. The European institutions and our national leaders must consider their mistakes. We must shape a new European Union, with a vision and a project for Europe. We must shape a transparent and comprehensive European Union, a strong European Union focusing on the welfare of the European citizens, a EU protecting its business community, encouraging its research and technology, and a Union capable of protecting itself from the threats. From a French point of view, a lot remains to be done in order to ensure that the EU will become this comprehensive institution taking everybody on board. There is no other option in order to preserve peace: a divided Europe has only brought wars in the past centuries. Here in Bangladesh, we will soon have a collocated Embassy with Germany. We are proud to say that, after World World 2 and only two generations, our relation with Germany is a strategic relation and a force that we have developed within the European Union. We have shown the world that the past is one thing, but the future is ours. We will build a new European Union. Bangladesh is also committed in its march towards the future. France is supporting Bangladesh in this project. Building a country needs embracing the diversity of the national sensibilities and perceptions, as they are all what Bangladesh is. Our own experience taught us that freedom of expression, diversity and strong institutions are key-factors for development. Sharing our experiences and technologies, cooperating for a better understanding of the environment and thus for a better anticipation of the future, supporting Bangladesh in some key-projects is our way to accompany Bangladesh in its march towards the future. Vive la France et Vive le Bangladesh! H.E. Sophie Aubert Ambassador of France to Bangladesh A few words about French COP21 Presidency France is leading the Presidency of the 21ST Conference of Parties on climate change. Within this framework and along with Morocco, France is preparing the 22nd Conference of Parties, due to take place next November in Marrakesh. What are the challenges for COP21 Presidency? It is all about the society we want to live in. The Paris Agreement on climate change adopted in December 2015 was a great victory for France and for the world: for the first time in our human history, we all agreed that our linear economic model was a disaster for our earth and for mankind. We all agreed that if we keep on living with the same references, we will destroy our global environment. We live in a world focusing on extracting, producing, consuming and throwing. This is the so-called linear economy. We must abandon this model for a new one based on low carbon economy, as human greenhouse gas emissions have led to an increase of the concentration of CO2 by 40% compared to the pre-industrial era. This rise is responsible for global warming. Natural greenhouse gas emissions are necessary because, thanks to them, our planet has maintained a global temperature which allows us and our environment to develop in a balanced way, but human activity has broken this balance. We have no choice but to change the way we live. This commitment taken through the Paris agreement has to be confirmed with the ratification of this document - what France and other countries have already done - and has to be translated into action. This is what COP22 in Marrakesh will have to do: act. We have no additional time to change our global model, because if we dont change it, global temperature will increase far beyond the 2C target by the end of the century. Technologies are here to drive this revolution, and France is leading the move through the business and climate dialogue Paris launched in 2015. Now the entire society has to re-direct its funds towards environment-friendly investments. The green climate fund is welcome, but the dynamic has to be shared from everywhere. Wherever we are, when we have to invest in energy, in infrastructure, we have to think about the compatibility of this investment with our major global goal: preserving the sustainability of our environment. H.E. Sophie Aubert Ambassador of France to Bangladesh The France Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 20 years The France Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry is celebrating its 20 years during the French Annual Event on 2nd and 3rd December 2016. A 2-day French Trade Show with a closing gala dinner will be organized on the occasion. French products and technology will be exhibited during the trade show and the gala dinner will have French food from the different regions of France with a French and Bangla cultural event. The Chamber started with 40 members and presently has risen to more than 150 including French companies operating in Bangladesh and local companies as agent/distributors of French companies from various sectors of business. It has an Executive Committee of 18 members with a President, 2 Vice Presidents, a Treasurer and EC members. The Chief Patron is the Ambassador of France and the Economic Counsellor of French Economic Department also attends the EC meeting. The Chamber works in close collaboration with the French Embassy having the same objective of developing trade relations between the 2 countries. The office is managed by a Director, a Business Consultant and an Administrative Officer. To achieve its objective, the CCIFB offers different services to its members and new French companies prospecting to do business with Bangladesh and vice versa. As a privileged partner of Business France (the French Agency For Foreign Trade), the Chamber provides its services to French companies with market study, information on market access and match-making with B2B meetings. The Chamber is developing its new dynamic website to facilitate business promotion. The updated Members Directory will also be published this year.