About Me

Ambassador Mashfee Binte Shams, a career diplomat, joined the BCS (Foreign Affairs) cadre in January 1991. Since joining the service, she has served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various capacities; prior to her retirement in December 2022, she served as Secretary (East), in charge of five regions: East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and Africa.

Ambassador Shams has served in the Bangladesh Missions in Rome, Bangkok, and New Delhi in various capacities, including as Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi. She has also served as Bangladesh Ambassador to Nepal from 2013 to 2020. Ambassador Shams is considered an expert on South Asia, particularly on Bangladesh-India relations, because of her long professional association with the South Asia region, including her work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Bangladesh Missions in the region since 2002.

Following her retirement in December 2022, Ambassador Shams served as Rector of the Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy, the training institution in the country mandated to train officers of the BCS (FA) and other Ministries/Divisions/Departments to represent Bangladesh at home and abroad.

Ambassador Shams obtained a BArch degree from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and an MA in Modern International Studies from the University of Leeds, UK.

Ambassador Shams serves on the Advisory Board of the Himalayan Future Forum, a Nepal-based think tank, and is Advisor to the Board of Governors of ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development), based in Kathmandu.

She is married to Ar. Minhasur Rahman, a senior Architect, and is blessed with a son, Tanmoy Masroor Rahman, PhD in Piano Performance and Musicology. Her interests include reading, history, regional politics, travelling, and fitness.