Foreign Service Academy is the lone professional training institute in Bangladesh in the field of foreign affairs and diplomacy. The journey of this Academy was in fact started in 1981 in the name of Foreign Affairs Training Institute (FATI) which was then located in the vicinity of Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur areas. It was later merged with one of the public services training institutes in 1987. In mid-nineties, the government of the then and the present Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina realized the necessity and the importance of a dedicated professional training institute for officers and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to enable them to face challenges of an ever-changing globalized world and keep them abreast of current world issues and discourses. Thus, with a vision and specific aim, the institute began its journey anew taking the name of Foreign Service Academy (FSA) in 1996. The Academy, since its inception, has conducted 24 (twenty four) ‘Specialized Diplomatic Courses (SDTC)’ for entry level officers of in the Ministry of Foreign Ministry and trained more than 250 officers at entry level. Re-orientation and Refreshers’ courses are also conducted time to time for the mid-level and senior officers of the Foreign Ministry. Besides, it has conducted quite a good number of orientation programmes for officers from other Ministries of the government of Bangladesh who had / have been serving in different wings (e.g. Commercial, Consular, Economic, Labour, Press wings, etc.) of Bangladesh missions abroad.

FSA provides formal trainings and skills-imparting sessions through its well-thought and customized course modules. The resource persons for the courses of the Academy include eminent academicians, policy makers and high government officials, retired Ambassadors and diplomatic practitioners and experts from public and private universities/organizations/institutions. Ambassadors/High Commissioners, Heads of Missions of UN and International organizations based in Dhaka and visiting experts and eminent foreign personalities are often invited to deliver speeches and conduct sessions on specific themes.