Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain will represent Bangladesh at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2024 (CHOGM), which will take place from October 21-26 in Apia, Samoa.

Adviser Hossain left Dhaka on Saturday night and is scheduled to return home on October 29, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told UNB.

He is likely to hold a few bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the CHOGM-2024 apart from representing Bangladesh at the Commonwealth meeting. 

It is the first CHOGM to be held in a Pacific Small Island Developing State.

While briefing reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Adviser said Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus will not attend the meeting.

The Chief Adviser will, however, attend the Bimstec Summit in Bangkok, Thailand. But the Summit date is yet to be announced.  

Building on progress since CHOGM 2022, leaders will deliberate on global economic, environmental and security challenges and discuss how Commonwealth countries can work together to build resilience, boost trade, innovation, growth and empower the Commonwealth’s 1.5 billion young people for a more peaceful and sustainable future.

Leaders of Commonwealth countries meet every two years for the CHOGM, hosted by different member countries on a rotating basis.

Since 1971, a total of 25 meetings have been held, with the most recent one being in Rwanda in 2022.

Commonwealth leaders meeting at CHOGM to shape Commonwealth policies and priorities on shared goals like development, democracy and peace, trade and economy, climate change and environment.

The Commonwealth’s values and principles are expressed in the Commonwealth Charter.