Bangladesh is all set to roll out red carpet for President of France Emmanuel Macron when he arrives in Dhaka this evening on a bilateral visit.
The French President is coming here after attending the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is scheduled to return home at 3:30pm wrapping up her India visit, will receive President Macron at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 7:30pm, an official said on Saturday.
Macron is the first leader to visit Bangladesh since former French President Mitterrand visited Bangladesh on February22-24, 1990.
President Macron will hold a summit meeting with PM Hasina at the Prime Minister’s Office tomorrow morning and join a banquet to be hosted by her in honour of the visiting guest this evening.
The two leaders are expected to witness the signing of a couple of bilateral instruments and hold a joint press briefing.
Macron will pay homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32 tomorrow morning.
“We’re thrilled to see a growing interest from both sides to enhance business, in particular to build on France technology and know-how in order to support the move from Digital Bangladesh to Smart Bangladesh,” said the Embassy of France in Dhaka.
The visit of President Macron at the invitation of PM Hasina will be the occasion to concretise some projects and boost further economic relations between the two countries, said the French side.
The bilateral trade relationship has gone a long way since early 1990.
Total trade between Bangladesh and France soared from 210M€ to 4.9 billion€ today with France being the 5th country for exports.
French companies are now involved in various sectors including engineering, energy, aerospace and water sectors.
The French President will be accompanied by, among others, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna.
Since the country is particularly vulnerable to climate change, the president will recall France’s determination to stand by Bangladesh on its humanitarian front, in particular in the face of regular floods.
In Bangladesh, President Macron will continue the concrete declination of the French strategy in the Indo-Pacific, after welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Paris this summer and visiting Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Sri Lanka. Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said Bangladesh and France would discuss ways to enhance trade and investment between the two countries apart from discussing issues like climate change and regulated migration during the talks.
The French President is scheduled to leave Dhaka at 2pm tomorrow.
Source: The Daily SUN.