PM Hasina off to Italy
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka for Rome on Tuesday morning on a four-day official visit to Italy at the invitation of her Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte.
During the visit, three agreements on cultural exchange, political consultations and cooperation in the diplomatic field are expected to be inked while the prime minister will hold a bilateral meeting with Giuseppe Conte on February 5.
A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the premier and her entourage members took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) for Italian capital of Rome at 9:45 in the morning.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque, Chief Whip Noor-E-Alam Chowdhury Liton, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md. Mahbub Ali were present at the airport to see the premier off.
Besides, the cabinet secretary, the chiefs of the three services, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the dean of the diplomatic corps and high civil and military officials were present.
The flight is scheduled to land at Fiumicino Airport, Rome at 4:15 pm local time where Minister Plenipotentiary of Italian Foreign Ministry Cristiano Cottafavi and Bangladesh Ambassador to Italy Abdus Sobhan Sikder will receive the premier.
After the reception at the airport, a ceremonial motorcade will escort the Bangladesh prime minister to Parco dei Principi Grand Hotel and Spa, where she will be staying during her visit to the Italian capital.
Sheikh Hasina will attend a reception to be accorded in her honour at Parco dei Principi Grand Hotel and Spa in the evening the same day.
On February 5, she will inaugurate the Chancery Building of Bangladesh Embassy in Rome in Via Dell’Antartide area in the morning.
In the afternoon, the prime minister will hold bilateral talks with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte and join an official lunch at Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of the Italian prime minister.
The two leaders, in their summit meeting, are expected to discuss the whole range of bilateral issues as well as important regional and international matters of common concern.
Later, representatives of the Italian business companies will call on the Bangladesh prime minister at the meeting room of her place of residence.
The prime minister will then attend a dinner to be hosted by the Bangladesh ambassador to Italy at Parco dei Principi Grand Hotel and Spa.
On February 6, Sheikh Hasina will have an audience with Pope Francis in the morning.
Then the prime minister will depart Rome for the Italian city of Milan by train at 12:50 pm and reach there at 4 pm local time.
She will stay at Excelsior Hotel Gallia during the visit to Milan.
On February 7, the prime minister will leave Milan Malpensa International Airport for home by an Emirates flight at 1:40 pm local time.
She will reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka at 8:10 am Bangladesh time on February 8 via Dubai.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said three bilateral instruments are likely to be signed between Dhaka and Rome during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Italy.
The proposed deals are on cultural exchange, political consultations and cooperation in the diplomatic field, Momen added.
