Mashfee Binte Shams

Mashfee Binte Shams is a Bangladeshi diplomat and former rector of the Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy. She is the former ambassador of Bangladesh to Nepal. She is the former Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Career

Shams joined the foreign service in 1991 as part of the 9th batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service.
In June 2013, Shams was appointed Ambassador of Bangladesh to Nepal. She was previously the Director General of South Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She hosted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2018 when she visited Nepal for the 4th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation summit. She worked during the crash of US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 from Bangladesh to Nepal. She supported developing Saidpur Airport into an international airport to turn it into a regional hub. She proposed establishing a direct bus service between Bangladesh and Nepal to the Nepalese government.
Shams was the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She led an investigation committee following a police raid on the home of the Deputy mission chief in Indonesia Kazi Anarkoly and the recovery of marijuana in the raid. She supported women diplomats saying father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave the Bangladeshi constitution which gives equal rights to all citizens. She was the first woman to reach the rank of secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2022, she led a Bangladeshi diplomatic delegation in talks with an Indian delegation, talked about making the visa process easier.
Shams was appointed rector of Foreign Service Academy in January 2023. She replaced Asad Alam Siam.