Hasina leaves for Cambodia today

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leaves Dhaka for Phnom Penh this morning 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 co-operation in the important sectors between the two Asian nations.Tomorrow, the prime minister will hold official talks with her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen. Before the talks the two premiers will have a tete-a-tete.Later, 11 instruments - two agreements and nine memorandums of understanding (MoUs) - will be signed between Bangladesh and Cambodia in presence of the two prime ministers.The naming of two important roads in Dhaka and Phnom Penh after the Father of the Nation of both the countries will be announced at the function, while Sheikh Hasina and Hun Sen will later deliver a joint press statement.The Bangladesh prime minister will have a royal audience with Cambodia King Norodom Sihamon and will separately call on Cambodian Senate President Say Chhum and National Assembly President Heng Samrin.Hasina 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.“This visit would contribute immensely to expanding co-operation 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 Mahmood Ali told a press conference yesterday.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 Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.The prime minister will return home on December 5.Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina consoling family members of Dhaka North mayor Annisul Huq, who died in a London hospital on Thursday, in Dhaka yesterday.