Dhaka – People from different walks of life gathered at the French embassy in Dhaka on Tuesday to celebrate Bastille Day (French National Day). The day commemorates the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, a pivotal turning point in the French Revolution.
Bangladeshi Minister Iqbal Mahmood, in charge of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, attended the event as chief guest. He emphasized greater engagement between Bangladesh and France in bilateral ties, including diplomacy, business, cultural cooperation, and people-to-people contact.
French Ambassador to Bangladesh Jean-Marc Séré-Charlet reaffirmed Paris’ commitment to expanding cooperation across a wide range of sectors.
Speaking at the event, the ambassador said France is ready to build a long-term partnership with Bangladesh, describing the country as a rapidly growing economy with the potential to become “a pillar of stability” in the Indo-Pacific region.
Here is the full text of the French ambassador’s speech, in which he addressed party in Bangla, French and English, at the event.
Dear Bangladeshi friends,
1.
Ami khub khushi. I am truly very happy to be with you tonight for my first Bastille Day celebration in Dhaka. It has now been ten months since I arrived in Bangladesh. I am very pleased to be getting to know this country better and to be leading an embassy with such a high-quality team. I would like to commend my team, and the entire Equipe France, for their dedication to the Franco-Bangladeshi friendship. And as you know, you are here in a Franco-German embassy, which means that French and German diplomats work very closely together, in an excellent atmosphere. I would also like to acknowledge my colleagues, Rüdiger, Anja, and their team, for the excellent working relationship between our two embassies.
2.
Since I arrived in Dhaka, a lot has happened. Onek ghotona ghotetche. Remember: in September 2025, we were still under an interim government, and the discussions revolved around the date of the elections and substance of the July Charter.
Then came the start of the election campaign, followed by the dramatic day of December 16th, when the offices of two pillars of press – Prothom Alo and the Daily Star – were set on fire. But they persevered and they continue their mission of providing quality information – I would like to commend their leaders and teams here. France supports and promotes worldwide the freedom of expression and the freedom of press, which are two cornerstones of democracy.
Then came the elections, and for us Europeans, it was great to see the EU closely supporting the return of democracy to Bangladesh by sending an election observation mission of over 200 observers (most from Europe, but some also from this embassy, which played its part in the mission).
And then the elections, the new government, and the budget. What an incredible journey!
I must confess that I am very impressed, and so are we in Paris, by the strong commitment of the Bangladeshi people to democracy. The elections were held in a very remarkable way, with a high level of participation and results that were not disputed. We are very pleased because we needed a Bangladesh back within the community of democracies.
Bangladesh shares many values with France and with European countries. It is not only a democratic country, but also a peaceful country, and like France and the European Union, it definitely prefers cooperation over confrontation. In this regard, Bangladesh, Europe, and France have a great deal to achieve together, and we hope that the coming years will strengthen both Bangladesh and the bilateral relationship.
3.
Indeed, this is the mission I received from the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron when appointed me as ambassador of France: as democracy is coming back, it is to revitalize our bilateral relationship, to develop it further, and to create multiple connections between our business men and women, our students, our artists, and so on.
Our partnership is long-standing one, transcending governments and focusing on the bonds between our two peoples. As you know, France was one of the first countries in the world to recognize Bangladesh just after its independence. This year, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the death of André Malraux, a remarkable figure, a great Frenchman, a renowned writer, a courageous member of the Resistance, and a close friend of Bangladesh who, even before the creation of this country, advocated for its cause. You will see a display here to learn more about this unique personality. He was, for example, the first Minister of Culture in the world. It was indeed in France, in 1958, that, for the first time, a Ministry of Culture was created.
France is already active in a wide range of sectors.
We have strong cultural ties; French artists come to Bangladesh for residence programs, and Bangladeshi artists do the same in France. We have two excellent Alliances Françaises in Dhaka and Chittagong (I would like to acknowledge their directors and teams here), which teach French to an increasing number of students each year and also promote cultural exchanges.
In another field, the French Development Agency (AFD) has been present since 2012 and has already lent nearly 2 billion euros to Bangladesh. It is particularly active in the areas of combating climate change and building resilience, but also in the fields of poverty reduction and women’s empowerment.
We are also present through our companies, whether they operate in the fashion industry, the aerospace sector, civil aviation, or the water and infrastructure sector, and we would like to have even more of a presence. We are working on that.
France recognizes Bangladesh’s importance and its strengths, which are geographical, human, and economic. We want to develop our ties in all sectors, and we are ready to build a long-term partnership with Bangladesh, a country with a rapidly growing economy, strong companies, an efficient workforce, and the potential to be a pillar of stability in the region. This is evident. But economy is not everything. We have a strategic perspective and we want this region to be a zone of free passage, peace, and cooperation, a pillar of stability. We are counting on Bangladesh to work together with us towards these goals. Especially because, you may not know this, France is a fully-fledged country in the Indo-Pacific region. There are over 1.5 million French citizens living on a permanent basis in the Indo-Pacific region, in places like the island of Réunion, New Caledonia and French Polynesia. In a way, we are neighbours and we want to engage more.
4.
One of our main challenges is to better promote France in Bangladesh, and vice versa, going beyond the clichés like the Eiffel Tower or the French Riviera. You already know about our passion for football, whether it’s the French national team or Paris Saint-Germain, and some of our heroes like Mbappé or Zidane. But there’s so much more to discover.
France is a leader in the fight against climate change, while Bangladesh is a country particularly vulnerable to this challenge. As the initiator of the COP21 conference in 2015, France is at the forefront of the fight against global warming, the consequences of which are particularly evident in Bangladesh. That is why President Emmanuel Macron has made the fight against climate change in Bangladesh a priority of our bilateral cooperation. As a result, the French Development Agency is devoting, every year, more than 80% of its projects in Bangladesh to climate mitigation and resilience and to the biodiversity conservation.
France is also a leader in ocean protection, as demonstrated by the Nice Summit in 2025, which, among other things, facilitated the ratification and implementation of the ocean protection treaty. Bangladesh was one of the first countries to ratify this treaty, well before the Nice Summit and recently our President has personally congratulated the Bangladeshi new Prime minister about the role of Bangladesh in this achievement.
France is embracing the new technological revolution, the revolution of innovation. France has become a major, and perhaps the leading, European hub for artificial intelligence. We recently hosted the Vivatec innovation fair in Paris, which showcases the latest technologies.
5.
France is also a country committed to peace and multilateralism. In this regard, and we strive to promote solutions that are both intelligent and beneficial for all, especially during these times of great international turmoil. For example, France has put forward proposals during the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, which was triggered a few weeks ago by the attack launched on Iran. We have also recognized the State of Palestine. We are also actively involved in building a coalition of the willing to support Ukraine in defending its sovereignty against the brutal and unjustified aggression by Russia, which has been waging a colonial war for over four years, resulting in hundreds of victims every day. As in 1971, when France supported Bangladesh, we are now defending Ukraine, international law, and, in particular, the right of peoples to self-determination against aggressors who seek to impose their will. This morning, on the Champs-Élysées, Ukrainian troops and representatives from the Coalition of the willing of 34 States marched alongside their French counterparts, ready to defend international law and the right of peoples to self-determination. I know that this is a topic that resonates deeply here, in this Bangladesh, which gained its freedom through armed struggle, even though some tried to deny its very existence, just as is happening in Ukraine. This is precisely what is at stake in the war in Ukraine.
We want to do more with Bangladesh on the international stage. We see a renewed interest. I would naturally like to congratulate Bangladesh on the election of Khalilur Rahman as the head of the next United Nations General Assembly. It is a great achievement for Bangladesh, as was the election of my counterpart in Paris, Khondker Talha, who is the Ambassador of Bangladesh to France and to UNESCO, and who is also the president of the UNESCO Executive Board. We want to work together more as reliable partners. A good example is that France and the European Union have been supporting Bangladesh for 25 years by establishing a system that has favored its exports and has allowed the Bangladeshi ready-made-garment industry to develop with remarkable results. As reliable partners, we naturally expect to benefit from a level playing field in order to continue and develop our relationship based on genuine reciprocity. We expect Bangladesh to also demonstrate its interest in partnering in a concrete way.
In short, we can achieve many positive things together, onek kaj korte hobe and both France and the European Union are attentive to the initiatives that the Bangladeshi government wishes to pursue.
6.
Enfin, je ne voudrais pas finir sans saluer notre communauté française.
Je souhaite vous remercier pour votre accueil très chaleureux. Nous ne sommes pas très nombreux, mais je suis impressionné par les talents des uns et des autres. Vous avez vu d’ailleurs les vidéos, qui ne sont qu’un début. Je souhaite créer du lien entre nous et que vous vous sentiez chez vous à l’ambassade et à la Résidence. N’hésitez jamais à me contacter. Soyez fiers d’être Français et soyez fiers, tout en restant modestes, de ce qui constitue les valeurs humanistes et généreuses de notre pays. Vous êtes, chacun dans votre environnement, des ambassadeurs de la France, comme Mbappé, continuez d’être à la hauteur de cette belle mission.
Bangladesh tchiro sta-yi hok
Vive la République,
Vive la France.
