PM leaves Brunei for home

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei, April 23, 2019 (BSS) – Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina left Bandar Seri Begawan this afternoon wrapping up her three-day
official visit to Brunei Darussalam at the invitation of Sultan Hassanal
Bolkiah.

A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the premier and her
entourage members took off from Brunei International Airport in Bandar Seri
Begawan, the Brunei capital at 5.15pm local time today.

Brunei Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato Seri Setia Awang
Haji Ali bin Haji Apong and Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Brunei
Darussalam Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Mahmud Hussain were present at the airport
to see the PM off.

The premier was given static guard of honour at the airport.

The flight is scheduled to land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport
in the capital Dhaka at 7.45pm local time.

Earlier, the premier arrived at Brunei International Airport in Bandar Seri
Begawan, the Brunei capital around 2.35pm local time on April 21.

During the visit, she joined a number of programmes including holding
bilateral talks with Brunei’s Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah after having a
general audience with the Sultan and the Royal family and in the opening
ceremony of Bangladesh-Brunei Business Forum, on the second day of her visit
on April 22.

The premier visited the Jame Asr Mosque and offered Asr prayers there and
later attended an official banquet hosted in her honour by the Sultan at
Istana Nurul Iman on the same day.

On the first day of her visit, she joined a reception accorded to her by
Bangladesh community residing in Brunei.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on the third and final day of her visit, laid
the foundation stone of new Chancery Building of Bangladesh High Commission
at the Diplomatic Enclave at Jalan Kebangsaan in Brunei capital this
(Tuesday) morning.

Later, she visited the Royal Regalia Museum.

Bangladesh and Brunei today (April 22) signed seven instruments for
strengthening cooperation mainly in the fields of agriculture, fisheries,
livestock, culture and sports, and the supply of LNG.

The instruments were signed after the official bilateral meeting between
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Brunei’s Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah at the
Istana Nurul Iman, the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, here.

The seven instruments – six MoUs and one exchange of notes- are the
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Scientific and Technical Cooperation in
the Field of Agriculture, the MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Fisheries,
the MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Livestock, the MoU on Cultural and
Arts Cooperation, the MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Youth and Sports,
the MoU on the Field of Cooperation in the Supply of LNG, and the Exchange of
Notes on Exemption of Visa for Holders of Diplomatic and Official Passports.

The premier proposed for formation of a regional economic forum involving
five Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states of South and
Southeast Asian region during her talks with Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal
Bolkiah this (Monday) morning.

Briefing reporters after the talks, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque
said the members of the Southeast Asian Cooperation Organisation (SEACO), the
proposed regional economic forum, will include Bangladesh and the Maldives
from South Asia and Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei from Southeast Asia.

Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah put emphasis on “just and permanent
solution” to the Rohingya crisis during the bilateral talks with Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“We should make all sorts of efforts so that the Rohingyas can return,”
Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque quoted the Sultan as saying.

Besides, three business-level instruments were signed in presence of Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina at the opening ceremony of Bangladesh-Brunei Business
Forum at the Hotel Empire and Country Club here on (Monday) afternoon.

The instruments are – an agreement on cooperation between the Federation
of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the National
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Brunei Darussalam (NCCIBD) and the MoU on
the joint collaboration for provision of professional skills development and
training in petroleum geosciences among Dimension Strata Sendirium Berhad of
Brunei, Green Power Limited of Bangladesh and Department of Geology of Dhaka
University.

The other instrument is – a MoU between Ghanim International Cooperation
of Brunei and Nizam Group of Company of Bangladesh.