Commercial Wing

Mohammad Navid Safiullah is leading the Commercial Wing of the Embassy of Bangladesh in Spain since January 2015. As a Commercial Attache, he is mandated to promote and facilitate bilateral trade, economic cooperation, investment and cultural exchanges between Bangladesh and Spain. He also coordinates the tasks of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Madrid to promote sustainable tourism as Assistant Permanent Representative of Bangladesh.

Mr. Navid comes from a respectable Muslim family in Chittagong, Bangladesh. His father Major General Dr. AKM Safiullah Khan (Retd) was the former Chief Physician and Head of the Department of Medicine in the Combined Military Hospital, Dhaka Cantonment.

Born on December 30, 1969, in Jashore, Mr. Navid earned his Honours and Master’s degrees in English Literature and Linguistics respectively from the University of Dhaka. He obtained his MBA on Digital Technologies Management from Royal Roads, a top notch Public University in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Subsequently, Mr. Navid accomplished his Master’s degree in Governance and Development from BRAC University, a programme designed in partnership with the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Mr. Navid joined Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Cadre on 1995. During his career as a civil servant spanning over 23 years, he has served in various capacities and garnered diversified experience. As Director, Governance Innovation Unit (GIU) in the Prime Minister’s Office, he was instrumental in fostering innovations in the public sector to improve citizen satisfaction with fast, reliable and simplified services. He served as Deputy Secretary in the Planning Division, Ministry of Planning. While serving as Senior Assistant Secretary in the Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, Mr. Navid was tasked with negotiation and finalization of financial and technical assistance from the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, EU and the Russian Federation.

Mohammad Navid Safiullah received a number of overseas professional training courses. Noteworthy among them are Civil Service Reforms organized by the Institute of Development Studies of Sussex University, United Kingdom, KOICA’s Special Training Programme on Economic Development Strategy in Seoul, South Korea, SIDA’s International Training Programme on Public Service Management in Stockholm, Sweden followed by its Regional Seminar on the same in Beijing, China, Training Course from the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration and CBI Master Class on EU Export Promotion for Commercial Attachés in The Hague, Netherlands organized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Navid has delivered talks in almost all the apex public training institutions of Bangladesh as resource person including Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Academy, Defence Services Command & Staff College (DSCSC), Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy, National Academy for Training and Development and Police Staff College. The topics were related to English Linguistics, Good Governance, Performance Management, Leadership & Public Service Innovation.

Immediately after joining as Commercial Counsellor at Madrid Mission, he focused his tasks on the following major areas:

Country Branding

On 18 January 2018 Mr. Navid gave the first ever Radio Interview from the Embassy of Bangladesh on the nation’s untapped tourism potentials during Bangladesh’s participation in Madrid International Tourism Fair (Fitur) from 17-21 January 2018. In addition, Mr. Navid represented Bangladesh as a speaker in the High Level Policy Dialogue on Municipal Finances held on April 9, 2018 at the Grand Hotel Miramar Malaga. To familiarize Bangladesh as a country of immense potentials among the Spaniards, he has given several presentations, notably on 26 June, 2018 during a seminar on Business and Investment Opportunities in Bangladesh titled ''Rising Bangladesh'' jointly organized by the Embassy of Bangladesh in Spain and Casa Asia, a Spanish public consortium aimed at promoting the knowledge and development of the relations between Spain and the countries of Asia and the Pacific in socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental affairs. The Director General of Casa Asia, Mr. David Navarro was the Chief Guest, while President of Spain Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Alfredo Bonet was the Guest of Honour.

Enhancement of Bilateral Trade and Investment

Mr. Navid has attended several business meetings and seminars in all apex trade bodies, including Chambers of Commerce and Industries from major Spanish cities and regions of commercial importance. He was instrumental in implementing a full-fledged Commercial Wing at the Spanish Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh during 2017. The objective was to expand trade and investment between Spain and Bangladesh.

Outreach Programme

He has delivered a talk on the prospects of business and investment opportunities in Bangladesh to the students of Economics and Political Science Faculty in CEU, San Pablo University, the largest renowned Private University in Spain.

Research Activities

Mr. Navid has several publications to his credit. He has written several articles about the bilateral trade relations between Bangladesh and Spain which have been published in various print and electronic media such as "Cinco Dias", "Diplomacia", "The Diplomat" "The Diplomatica" and the Casa Asia bulletin. He also gave interviews for the Online Platform "Empresa Exterior" and Radio Station, "Radio Internacional" on Bangladesh’s untapped business and tourism potentials. Mr. Navid is responsible for launching and updating the Embassy’s website and a dedicated Facebook page on the Commercial Wing.

Mr. Navid is an enlisted singer of Bangladesh Television. He takes keen interest in painting and is passionate about music, writing articles, traveling, and gardening. He is happily married to Sonya Rahman. They are blessed with a son and a daughter.