Staff Reporter:
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent T. Christensen yesterday called on Cultural Affairs minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury at his office at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
During the meeting, they discussed a wide range of issues to strengthen the long-standing friendly peo-ple-to-people ties, educational exchanges, arts, literature and the vibrant shared values between Bangla-desh and the United States.
Ambassador Christensen highlighted the latest Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) grant amounting $235,000.
With this latest funding, the total US investment in cultural preservation in Bangladesh has surpassed $1 million, supporting 13 major projects over the last 25 years.
Among the prominent AFCP-funded projects, the ongoing restoration of the Mughal-era Musa Khan Mosque at Dhaka University was highly praised.
Other notable projects include the restoration of the 17th-century Shakhari Bazaar in Old Dhaka, preser-vation of structural segments at Lalbagh Fort and modernization of the Varendra Research Museum.
Discussions were also held on the feasibility of organising a joint “US-Bangladesh Cultural Festival”, collaborative cultural events and structured Cultural Artist Exchange programs.
Regarding the draft Bilateral Cultural Cooperation Agreement forwarded by Bangladesh, the US Ambas-sador said it is currently undergoing the necessary administrative and legal procedures and that the US side is keen to expedite the process once official clearance is obtained.
The Ambassador also said that US Library of Congress is highly interested in collecting and preserving the literary masterpieces of Bangladesh’s National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the US Mission were also present during the meeting.
