Presentations at the BIBC Two companies presented their work and services in the afternoon to the visiting delegation. The were: Bangladesh Business Consultant The Bit Bazaar They offered their services in many aspects of the operation of the BIBC. IBPC Meeting IBPC meeting took place following the presentations. Various issues relating to the strategic and other aspects of the BIBC operation were dicussed. Dateline 5/14/03 Meeting the Press As part of the “Meet the Press” program, Mr. Suhel Ahmed met with Dr. Fuad Rahman, Associate Managing Editor of Porshi, the locally published monthly magazine of Silicon Valley. The interview mostly covered aspects of the Com- merce Secretary’s visit for the BIBC inauguration, but also touched on more gen- eral issues before the Ministry of Commerce. Porshi is publishing this interview in its June issue. Trip to Sacramento The delegation went to Sacramento, the capital of the State of California. They met local NRB community and California State Officials for lunch at the local restaurant. Lunch was hosted by Dr. Najmus Saquib, President of WRIME (Water Resources and Information Management Engineering Inc). He also met with Mr. Oscar E. Jarquin, Chief Office of GIS, Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation System Information and Mr. Roger Ewers, Manager Data and Analysis Branch of State of California. There was an open discussion about the BIBC office and how this office can facilitate business between US and Bangladesh. Questions were raised on solving legal disputes. The meeting concluded with as- surances of full assistance from the Sacramento community towards the success of the BIBC office. Later Commerce Secretary met Lon S. Hatamiya, Secretary, California Technol- ogy, Trade & Commerce Agency and Nelson H. Chan, Deputy Secretary, Global Economic Development. They discussed many bilateral issues of interest. Mr. Hatamiya welcomed the Bangladeshi delegation to the California Capital and of- fered strong cooperation in the Trade, Technology and IT area. He pointed out that currently trade between California and Bangladesh is concentrated in the Agricultural area and suggested that this can be extended to Education, Training and other areas. Mentioning the present budget crisis of California, Mr. Hatamiya assured the delegation that despite this crisis, California will continue its program with other developing countries. On his part Mr. Ahmed thanked Mr. Hatamiya, and mentioned that any possible assistance from the California Government to the BIBC office will be sincerely appreciated. 4 June 18-20th, 2003 New York, NY: CeBIT-NY Upcoming Events June 17-19th, 2003, Boston, MA: IT Outsourcing Conference