Bangladesh appoints Salahuddin Noman as new foreign secretary; envoy Siam to join Delhi Mission

DHAKA: Tarique Rahman’s government has appointed Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury as the country's new foreign secretary.Officials at the ministry of foreign affairs on Sunday bade farewell to outgoing foreign secretary Asad Alam Siam and welcomed his successor, Noman Chowdhury.Siam, who assumed office on June 20 last year, is set to take up his new assignment as Bangladesh's High Commissioner to India in New Delhi, a key diplomatic posting.Newly appointed foreign secretary Noman previously served as Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York before returning to the ministry's headquarters in Dhaka.Ambassador Noman joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1998. Before his UN assignment, he served as Bangladesh's Ambassador to Nepal from November 2020 to December 2024.Over a diplomatic career spanning more than two decades, he has served in various capacities at Bangladesh missions abroad, including the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York, the Consulate General of Bangladesh in New York and the Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad.At the foreign ministry headquarters, he served in several wings, including the United Nations, Economic Affairs, Administration, Protocol, External Publicity and Southeast Asia, as well as at the Foreign Service Academy.A career diplomat, Ambassador Siam joined the Bangladesh foreign service in 1995 and has held several key diplomatic and administrative positions during his career.Before his most recent assignment, he served as Bangladesh's Ambassador to the United States, with concurrent accreditation to Guyana, and as the country's Permanent Representative to the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).From 2023 to 2024, Siam served as Bangladesh's Ambassador to Austria, with concurrent accreditation to Hungary and Slovenia. He also represented Bangladesh at the United Nations Office in Vienna and the OPEC Fund as Permanent Representative.Earlier, from 2017 to 2021, he served as Bangladesh's Ambassador to the Philippines, with concurrent accreditation to Palau, and as the country's Permanent Representative to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).His earlier overseas assignments included serving as the first Consul General at the Bangladesh Consulate General in Milan, Italy; Assistant High Commissioner at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Manchester, UK; and a junior diplomat at Bangladesh's embassies in Jakarta and Bangkok.At the ministry of foreign affairs in Dhaka, Siam also held several important positions.He served as Inspector General of Missions (IGM) and Rector of the Foreign Service Academy. He also served as Chief of Protocol and Director General of the Europe and EU Wing.Additionally, he worked in the offices of the foreign adviser and the foreign secretary as a director.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.