Dhaka to seek funds for Padma Bridge

Bangladesh is expecting an assurance from the Japan government that it will fund the Padma Bridge, said Foreign Minister Dipu Moni yesterday.

Describing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's five-day visit to Japan from November 28 as a timely step, she said at a regular press briefing at the foreign ministry yesterday afternoon that issues of bilateral cooperation would be discussed during the visit.
She said the premier will hold talks with Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan and also have an audience with Emperor Akihito.
During her visit, Hasina will address a number of investment conferences and hold meetings with representatives of Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan External Trade Organisation, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation to discuss investment, economic cooperation and development issues.
The prime minister will also address a meeting at the Peace Park in Hiroshima and lay the foundation of a Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo.
She will leave the country on November 21 for a three-nation tour covering Russia, Belgium and Japan, official sources said. Hasina will return home on December 2.
In Russia, Hasina will attend a Tiger's Conference in St Petersburg on November 22-23.
“Hasina will have a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Tiger's Conference,” Dipu Moni said.
From St. Petersburg she will fly to Brussels where she will hold talks with the Belgian prime minister on November 25.
Talking about labour export to Malaysia, Dipu Moni at the press briefing said Malaysia will not take new labours from Bangladesh until the country overcomes the impact of global recession.
However, she noted that a process is underway to send people under a new category.
About the recently concluded meeting of India-Bangladesh Joint Boundary Working Group (JBWG), the foreign minister said the JBWG has made “remarkable” progress at the meeting in New Delhi that ended last week. The foreign secretary level meeting between the two countries will be held soon.
Dipu Moni expressed optimism about a satisfactory settlement of the longstanding issue of demarcation of the border between the two countries and exchange of adversely possessed enclaves based on the Mujib-Indira Land Boundary Agreement, 1974.
-The Daily Star