PM Hasina to leave for Australia on Thursday

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave Dhaka Thursday afternoon for her three-day official visit to Australia at the invitation of her Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull. She will arrive in Sydney Friday morning and will be received by Bangladesh High Commissioner to Australia Mohammad Sufiur Rahman at the Sydney airport. During her stay in Australia, she will accept the Global Women's Leadership Award at the 2018 Global Summit of Women and hold a bilateral meeting with the Australian prime minister. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and a female business delegation will accompany the prime minister during the visit. On Friday, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will call on Sheikh Hasina. On the same day, the prime minister will attend Global Women's Leadership Award Gala Dinner at the International Convention Centre Sydney in the evening and will receive the Global Women's Leadership Award there. The Bangladesh premier is being honoured with the award, a lifetime honour, for her outstanding leadership in advancing women's education and entrepreneurship in Bangladesh, Asia and the Asia Pacific region. Hasina is scheduled to deliver a speech highlighting women empowerment, equal rights, inclusion of women in mainstream development, steps taken by the government and the achievements it has made so far. The award will be conferred on her by US-based NGO Global Summit of Women in Sydney during 2018 Global Summit of Women, being held on April 26-28 in Sydney. It is a business summit, focused on women's advancement in the global economy. For over 27 years, the summit has been connecting women worldwide. On Saturday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will visit Sydney University, hold a bilateral meeting with her Australian counterpart, and attend a community event in a Sydney hotel. She will leave Sydney on Sunday afternoon and is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka in early hours of Monday.