Statement by Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, Honorable Prime Minister of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Appendix I. Opening Session Statements [International Conference on the Technical Cooperation Programme: Sixty Years and Beyond - Contributing to Development, Vienna (Austria), 30 May - 1 June 2017]

Bangladesh enjoys an excellent collaboration with IAEA. We have successfully completed 138 national projects under Technical Cooperation (TC) and participated in 111 regional projects under Regional Cooperative Agreement (RCA). Recently Bangladesh successfully hosted the 39th Meeting of the National RCA representatives. Under the framework of IAEA's Technical Cooperation programme, we have received support in many areas, such as, promoting nuclear education and research, food safety, food security, human healthcare improvement, use of isotopes techniques in water and environment system management, industrial applications like Non Destructive Testing (NDT), crop and livestock improvement, control of pests etc. Amongst these many activities, let me share two concrete examples of Bangladesh's achievement in the peaceful use of nuclear technology: First, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) has developed high yielding, high nutritive, short duration, salt and submergence tolerant, climate resilient mutant varieties of different crops, by using nuclear technology, radiation and other advanced techniques. We have already developed 92 improved varieties of 13 crops. BINA was awarded with the "Outstanding Achievement Award" in 2014 by FAO-IAEA for its contribution towards the achievement of food security. Bangladesh today is self-sufficient in staple food production and even able to export surplus food grains. Second, the number of people who can affordably access diagnostic medical care in Bangladesh has increased 10 times over the last twenty years, as the country has expanded and strengthened its nuclear medicine services. 15 public and 6 private nuclear medicine Institutes in the country carry out more than 400,000 nuclear medicine procedures each year in the areas of oncology, cardiology, nephrology, Thyroid, invitro studies and cerebral studies. Uses of most recent nuclear technologies in the treatment of cancer are a real help to the people of Bangladesh. We have also built well-trained medical staff, advanced imaging tools and a cost-effective source of essential radiopharmaceuticals. As a result, life expectancy has increased and public health indicators have improved remarkably.