H.E. Mr. M. Riaz Hamidullah is the new Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He presented his credentials to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander on July 20th, 2020.
Mr. Riaz earned a bachelor’s and postgraduate degree in Economics in India and Bangladesh. He later joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 1995 and served a good part of his career in the area of multilateral economic diplomacy. Regarding his assignments abroad, he first served at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN in New York from 1999 to 2003. It was not long afterward that he become a mid-career political officer at the Bangladesh Mission in New Delhi, India from 2003 to 2005.
In the period between 2005 and 2011, Mr. Riaz focused on South Asian regional cooperation. This includes a three-and-a-half-year stint as Director in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Secretariat in Kathmandu. While holding this position, he dealt with, inter alia, regional agriculture and rural development, transport connectivity, the SAARC Development Fund, and the development of regional projects. In addition, he contributed towards the development and reorganization of SAARC institutions and processes.
In 2012, Mr. Riaz moved on to becoming the Director-General in charge of European and EU Affairs at the Bangladeshi MOFA. He guided Bangladesh’s economic engagements with several European countries and the country’s entry into the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process. From 2013, Mr. Riaz served as the Director-General in Multilateral Economic Affairs for three years, during which he worked on sustainable development, climate change, migration, development finance, and blue economy, among other things.
He also shepherded Bangladesh’s engagement in a range of multilateral processes like the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In addition, Mr. Riaz served as the lead interlocutor and negotiator on the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact on the ready-made garment (RMG) and textile industry vis-à-vis the US and EU, as well as matters related to the Responsible Business Conduct. Furthermore, he has anchored Bangladesh’s engagement in the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC).
From 2017, Mr. Riaz served as the point man on Bangladesh’s engagements at the World Economic Forum (WEF). Simultaneously, he served as the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka from August 2016 to July 2020. Following this term, he took over as the Ambassador-designate of Bangladesh to the Netherlands on July 6th, 2020.
Mr. Riaz is interested in matters of development, technology, global business, and work issues, which is showcased throughout his career as a diplomat.
The diplomat community in The Hague sends a warm welcome to Ambassador Riaz and wishes him all the best in his new term.
