Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reached Dubai on Saturday night (Nov 16) on a four-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to attend Dubai Air Show 2019 and other programmes.
The premier is visiting the UAE at the invitation of its ruler Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed al Maktoum.
An Emirates flight carrying the PM and her entourage members landed at Dubai International Airport. Bangladesh Ambassador to the UAE Mohammad Imran received the premier at the airport.
After the reception at the airport, a ceremonial motorcade escorted the premier to Shangri-La Hotel in Abu Dhabi, where she will be staying during her visit to the UAE, local media reported.
Earlier, the PM left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka for Dubai in the evening (BD time).
Liberation War Affairs Minister A K M Mozammel Haque, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Jatiyo Sangsad Chief Whip Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury Liton, dean of the diplomatic corps, the UAE ambassador in Dhaka, three chiefs of the armed forces, the PM’s principal secretary and high civil and military officials were present at the airport to see the PM off.
On Nov 17, Sheikh Hasina will attend the opening ceremony of the Dubai Air Show 2019, one of the largest and most successful air shows in the world and the biggest aerospace event in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, at Dubai World Central (Dubai Al Maktoum Airport) in the morning.
She will later enjoy the flying display in the afternoon at Dubai World Central.
As many as 87,000 participants and 1,300 exhibitors from all over the world are expected to gather at Dubai World Central – Dubai’s airport of the future.
The biennial air show will once again take over the skies of Dubai on Nov 17-21, and is expected to surpass the feats of Dubai Airshow 2017, which concluded with an order book worth more than $113.8 billion and welcomed 79,380 attendees and 1,200 exhibitors from 63 countries.
Concluding the four-day visit to the UAE, the premier will return home on Nov 19.
“During the visit of the honorable prime minister, three instruments – two bilateral cooperation documents and a protocol – are expected to be signed between Bangladesh and the UAE,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told a news briefing on Thursday.
The three instruments are bilateral cooperation between Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and Emirates Development Authority, between Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) and Emirates Economic Zone Authority and protocol on allotment of land plot for Bangladesh Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
The foreign minister said the prime minister will inaugurate the Election Commission’s programme to start registering Bangladeshis working in the UAE on the voter list and distributing smart NID cards among them on November 18 at the Bangladesh Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
Apart from the ruler of Dubai, Momen said, Sheikh Hasina will also hold meetings with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and UAE’s Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation Sheikh Fatima Bint Mubarak.
During the visit, the prime minister is also expected to meet big UAE investor groups and businesspeople, Momen said.
“It is expected that the visit will have a positive impact on UAE investment in different sectors of Bangladesh and will help boost cooperation between the investment authorities,” he added.
