Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque has lauded the collaborative efforts between Bangladesh and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in improving the disease surveillance of Bangladesh. He hoped that through this cooperation, Bangladesh would be able to control virus-borne communicable diseases and produce vaccines domestically and supply to the global market. The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) held a ceremony at its headquarters, welcoming Bangladesh’s accession to the IVI.  Read: Vaccine institute in Bangladesh can be a gamechanger for its economy: Experts Representatives of the Government of Bangladesh, members of the diplomatic community in Seoul, and representatives of the IVI member states attended the event. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam expressed gratitude to the IVI for supporting and facilitating the accession process of Bangladesh and for providing assistance to the country through vaccine research and development, vaccine technology transfer, research and capacity-building collaboration.  He hoped that Bangladesh’s new role as a state party to the IVI would further expand and consolidate cooperation between Bangladesh and IVI in the days ahead. Bangladesh Ambassador to South Korea Abida Islam attended the ceremony in person and raised Bangladesh’s flag at the IVI Headquarters in the presence of IVI Director-General Dr Jerome Kim and others. Abdul Muktadir, Chairman and Managing Director of the Incepta Vaccine Ltd, and Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, Executive Director of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, virtually participated in the event. Chairperson of IVI’s Board of Trustees, George Bickerstaff welcomed Bangladesh’s ratification of the IVI Establishment Agreement, becoming one of the state parties to the IVI.  Read:Dhaka thanks Beijing for vaccine supply during difficult time