Sri Lankan Envoy Gunasekera terms PM Hasina as 'pride of SAARC family’

Newly appointed Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Yasoja Gunasekera has congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on receiving two international awards.

Gunasekera also termed Hasina as the 'pride of SAARC family' when she called on the prime minister at her office in Dhaka on Wednesday.

In reply, Hasina mentioned that she had dedicated the awards to the people of Bangladesh.

The prime minister had received a top UN award - ‘Champions of the Earth’ - and the ICTs in Sustainable Development Award from the International Telecommunication Union during her visit to the US last month.

She was there to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

After the meeting, Hasina’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters that the two discussed bilateral matters and climate change issues.

He said Hasina also apprised Gunasekera about the steps taken by her government to tackle the problems created due to Bangladesh’s geographic location in a calamity prone area.

She also recalled Sri Lankan investment in Bangladesh and called on the entrepreneurs of that country to invest, either solo or in joint ventures, in Bangladesh’s 22 special economic zones.

Regarding progress on regional communication, the prime minister said, "We are contemplating to introduce a sea route involving Bangladesh, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka."

Gunasekera said that there was scope of cooperation in power, banking and shipping sectors between the two countries.

She said Bangladesh was producing world standard pharmaceuticals items and many countries including those from the West were importing these.

She also expressed her country's interest to import pharmaceuticals items from Bangladesh.