LAHORE: In a significant development marking the restoration of high level bureaucratic engagement after more than five decades, a delegation of senior civil servants from Bangladesh is set to arrive in Lahore in first week of May to participate in an advanced professional training programme at the Pakistan Civil Services Academy (CSA).
The visiting delegation comprises 20 top bureaucrats including additional secretaries, joint secretaries and senior training officials drawn from key ministries and divisions of the Bangladeshi government. The programme will be hosted at the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) campus in Lahore, a premier institution responsible for the training of Pakistan’s civil bureaucracy.
Officials said the visit represents the first structured, high level civil services exchange between the two countries since the early 1970s, reflecting a cautious yet notable effort to revive institutional linkages that remained dormant following the events leading to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
The delegation includes Dr Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Additional Secretary at the Economic Relations Division, Dr Abu Shahin M. Ashaduzzaman, Additional Secretary in the Statistics and Information Management Department and Dr Muhammad Mohoshin Ali, a senior official at the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre. Also part of the group is Ms Salma Siddiqua Mahtab, Additional Secretary in the Health Services Division.
Among other prominent participants are Mohammad Mostofa Jamal Haider, Director General (Joint Secretary) at the Trade Organization Division of the Ministry of Commerce, Muhammad Altaf Hossain, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and several joint secretaries from key ministries including public administration, finance, home affairs, cabinet division, education, disaster management, and cultural affairs.
The presence of senior officials from training
institutions such as the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre and the Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Academy is being seen as particularly significant, suggesting an emphasis
on institutional collaboration and knowledge exchange in governance practices.
Sources in the academy said the programme will focus on public policy governance reforms, economic management, and administrative innovation, with sessions designed to encourage peer learning and comparative perspectives between the two bureaucratic systems.
Analysts view the initiative as a measure that could pave the way for further cooperation between the two countries in areas such as trade, education and institutional capacity building.
