M Humayun Kabir: Bangladesh and Nepal has agreed to boost cooperation in power sector alongside trade and investment.
The agreement was made after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held talks with her Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli on the sidelines of the 4th BIMSTEC Summit here, reports BSS.
“They discussed bilateral and regional cooperation and put emphasis on increasing trade and investment as well as enhanced cooperation for power sector development,” Bangladesh premier’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters after the meeting at Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza in Kathmandu yesterday morning.
Karim said the two premiers discussed the issue of importing electricity from Nepal and signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard.
“Our main aim is to eradicate poverty from the region…we want development not for our own country alone, we want the neighbours to develop as well,” she said.
The premier offered Nepal to use Bangladesh’s seaports and the Syedpur airport and added Bangladesh could also share its experience in disaster management with Kathmandu.
The Nepalese premier, on the other hand, said the two countries needed to “explore opportunities to boost cooperation in different sectors”.
Later, Bhutanese Chief Adviser or head of interim government Dasho Tshering Wangchuk called on Sheikh Hasina at the same place and recalled his visit to Bikramapur of Bangladesh.
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, PM’s Principal Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman and Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque were present on the occasion.
Later, Sheikh Hasina along with other BIMSTEC leaders paid a joint call on Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari at Sheetal Nibash, the Presidential Palace, in the capital city.
They also attended a banquet luncheon there hosted by the Nepalese president.
Sheikh Hasina arrived here yesterday morning to join the two-day 4th Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) that begins yesterday.