Courtesy meeting of Dutch Ambassador with Information Minister

The meeting was held on Wednesday (July 8) at the minister's office in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at the Secretariat.

During the meeting, the Dutch Ambassador congratulated the Information Minister on assuming his duties. He said that Bangladesh and the Netherlands have had strong bilateral relations since independence. Currently, this cooperation has expanded in various fields including education, health, development, and trade. He also expressed interest in working with the Bangladesh government to further strengthen this relationship in the future.

Zahir Uddin Swapan said that since taking office, the current government has been working to bring about qualitative changes in state activities. He expressed interest in working jointly with the Netherlands in the media and communication sector.

The Minister said that in the current information technology-dependent world, new media, artificial intelligence, and digital systems are creating new challenges. He emphasized that ensuring freedom of expression while protecting the public from misinformation and disinformation is the responsibility of the state. He stressed the importance of formulating effective strategies for this and expressed interest in learning about the Netherlands' experience in this regard.

In response, the Dutch Ambassador emphasized the need to formulate new policy frameworks to address digital challenges. At the same time, he highlighted various initiatives and experiences of the Netherlands in this area.

Present at the meeting were Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Mahbuba Farzana and Additional Secretary Md. Shah Alam.