PM to visit New Zealand in March

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will go to New Zealand next month in what will be the first ever visit by a head of government between the two countries.

A senior foreign ministry official told bdnews24.com on Sunday that the prime minister had agreed to visit from Mar 11 to 14 following an invitation from her counterpart John Key.

Key invited her to watch the Bangladesh-New Zealand World Cup cricket match on Mar 13 at Hamilton and for a bilateral meet.

New Zealand is hosting the World Cup along with Australia.

“The bilateral talks will be held in Auckland,” the official, who declined to be named, said.

“This will be the first highest level visit between the countries,” he said.

New Zealand was one of the first of countries to recognise Bangladesh in early 1972.

But the relations had never been nurtured. Bangladesh imports milk and milk products from New Zealand, while in recent years New Zealand commissioned the building of a ship by a Bangladesh company.

“We’ll broach new ideas of cooperation during our prime minister’s visit,” the official said. “It’s (the visit) a good chance”.

Bangladesh would stress agricultural cooperation and investment, apart from cooperation in the marine aspects.

After settling the maritime dispute with India and Myanmar, Bangladesh is pursuing ocean-based economic diplomacy for extracting marine resources.

Dhaka will also seek cooperation in capacity-building and training.

Since many students go to New Zealand for studies, Dhaka will also seek an increase in the number of Commonwealth scholarships.

The foreign ministry is planning to propose exchanges at the parliamentary, judiciary, and civil service levels since both countries, once British colonies, have similar legal and administration systems.

The bilateral meeting will take place in Auckland as it is close to the venue of the cricket match at Hamilton.

The New Zealand prime minister has an office in Auckland apart from the capital, Wellington.