CFC meets Bangladesh Foreign Secretary to advance Humanizing the Value Chains and the Global Commodity Agenda
Teleconference, 10 August 2026 – The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) held a virtual meeting with H.E. Asad Alam Siam, Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, to discuss the CFC’s Humanizing the Value Chains (HVC) concept, the financing challenges facing commodity-dependent developing countries, and the need to bring commodity transformation and value addition higher on the international development agenda.
CFC Managing Director Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal expressed his appreciation to the Foreign Secretary and his colleagues for the constructive exchange and highlighted Bangladesh’s potential role in advancing the HVC concept.
“Humanizing the Value Chains is about putting people back at the centre of global value chains. Success should not be measured only by how much value a commodity creates, but also by how fairly that value is shared with the farmers, workers, cooperatives and SMEs who make that value possible,” Ambassador Belal said.
He noted that Bangladesh provides an important example through its globally significant garment industry, which has created millions of jobs and contributed substantially to the country’s economic transformation. At the same time, the discussion highlighted the opportunity to retain more value at origin through local processing, technology, innovation and stronger participation of SMEs.
“Bangladesh has demonstrated how participation in global value chains can transform an economy. The next question is how we can ensure that more value remains at origin and that those at the beginning of the value chain are not left behind,” Ambassador Belal added.
The meeting also explored the broader challenge of financing commodity transformation. Despite the importance of commodities to employment, exports, food security and rural livelihoods across developing countries, many producers, cooperatives and SMEs continue to face significant financing gaps that prevent them from moving beyond the production and export of raw commodities.
Ambassador Belal emphasized the importance of bringing the commodity agenda back into wider international development discussions.
The Foreign Secretary welcomed the discussion and expressed Bangladesh’s interest in engaging further with the CFC on these issues.
“Bangladesh has experienced first-hand how participation in global value chains can contribute to economic transformation. We are therefore very interested in continuing the conversation on how value chains can become more inclusive and how developing countries can strengthen their capacity for value addition and transformation,” Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam said.
The two sides also discussed the possibility of giving greater international attention to the commodity agenda, including through stronger dialogue among Member States on commodity transformation, SME financing, technology and value addition.
Ambassador Belal noted that the CFC, as an institution created from the collective efforts of developing countries and the Group of 77, is well placed to help facilitate this conversation.
“We need to ensure that commodities are not treated simply as a trade issue. They are an issue of development, employment, food security, industrialization and economic sovereignty. Bringing these issues together can help place commodity transformation at the centre of the development agenda,” Ambassador Belal concluded.
Foreign Secretary Ambassador Asad Alam Siam was assisted by Mr. Kazi Ehsanul Haque, Director General, Division of Multilateral Economic Affairs, Mr. Md. Monowar Mukarram, Director (Office of the Foreign Secretary), and Mr. A.S.M. Sayem, Director, Division of Multilateral Economic Affairs, while CFC MD Ambassador Belal was assisted by Ms. Zahra Kahla, Research and Data Analyst.
The meeting concluded with both sides expressing interest in continuing the dialogue and exploring opportunities for Bangladesh to contribute to the advancement of Humanizing the Value Chains and broader international discussions on commodity transformation and sustainable value addition.
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Email: managing.director@common-fund.org