PM Hasina flies to Cambodia Sunday

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to leave Dhaka for Phnom Penh on Sunday on a three-day official visit to Cambodia. The premier will pay the visit at the invitation of her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen as Dhaka hopes it (visit) would help strengthen bilateral cooperation in the important sectors between the two Asian nations. A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage members will take off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Sunday morning and is scheduled to reach Phnom Penh International Airport at 12:30pm (Cambodia time). The minister-in-waiting appointed by Cambodian premier Hun Sen, and Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand and concurrently accredited to Cambodia Saida Muna Tasneem will receive the prime minister at the airport. After the reception at the airport, a ceremonial motorcade will escort Hasina to Hotel Sofitel, where she will be staying during her visit. In the afternoon, she will place wreaths at the Independence Monument at Phnom Penh. She will also lay wreaths at the Royal Memorial Statue of Late King of Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk. Hasina will join a dinner to be hosted by the Bangladesh ambassador. Bangladesh community living in Cambodia will also attend the function. On Monday, the prime minister will hold official talks with Hun Sen following a tête-à-tête. Later, 11 instruments -- two agreements and nine memorandums of understanding (MoUs) -- will be signed between Bangladesh and Cambodia in the presence of the duo. The naming of two important roads in Dhaka and Phnom Penh after the Father of the Nation of both the countries will also be announced at the function. Hasina and Hun Sen will later deliver a joint press statement. Hasina will have a royal audience with King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamon and will separately call on Cambodian Senate President Say Chhum and National Assembly President Heng Samrin. She will join a business dialogue as the chief guest to be arranged by the Cambodian Chamber and attend the official dinner to be hosted by the Cambodian premier. Wrapping up her three-day official visit to Cambodia, the prime minister is scheduled to return home on Tuesday afternoon. "This visit would contribute immensely to expanding cooperation in food, agriculture, fisheries, tourism and ICT...this would also add a new dimension to the existing bilateral ties between the two countries," Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali told a press conference on Thursday. He said the prime minister would hold bilateral talks with Hun Sen focusing on trade and investment and cooperation in various sectors. The 11 deals and MoUs which are expected to be signed between the two countries are: civil aviation flight operation deal, agreement relating to formation of Joint Trade Council, cooperation agreement to implement SDGs by 2030, MoU relating to labour and vocational education, cooperation deal in tourism sector and preservation of history of liberation war and monument, MoU in fisheries and aquaculture, MoU in expansion of investment, cooperation agreement between the trade bodies of the two countries and expanding academic ties between Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and Royal Academy (RAC) of Cambodia. The foreign minister said it has been decided to name "Baridhara Park Road" in Dhaka's diplomatic zone after Cambodia's late King Norodom Sihanouk and a road in Phnom Penh after Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.