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Bangladesh to host 9th GFMD conference

Bangladesh will host the 9th conference of Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in December this year.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the three-day conference at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on December 10.United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, representatives from 140 states out of 195 including ministers from over 50 countries are expected to join the mega event, said Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque at a press conference at the foreign ministry on Monday.Highlighting a series of events that would take place round the year, Shahidul Haque said the upcoming GFMD debate will be structured on three sub-themes.They are-- economics of migration and development, sociology of migration and development and government of migration and development.Expatriates` Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Khandker Mohammad Iftekhar Haider also spoke on the occasion.The 8th GFMD meeting was held in Istanbul in October 2015.Earlier, the group unanimously accepted Bangladesh`s bid to chair the GFMD in 2016. Germany will take over the charge from Bangladesh next year.The GFMD is an initiative of the United Nations Member States to address the migration and development interconnections in practical and action-oriented ways.Bangladesh will also hold three workshops in Bangkok, Geneva and New York on three separate themes.