PM Hasina heads to Munich in first tour since taking office for third straight term

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is on her way to Germany to join the Munich Security Conference.

She and her entourage were on a Bangladesh Biman flight that left Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport at 8:20am Thursday. The flight is expected to reach Munich at noon local time.

The six-day tour, which includes a visit to the UAE, is the prime minister’s first tour since she took office for a third consecutive term following last year’s general election.

After attending the security conference in Munich, Hasina will join the inauguration of the International Defence Exhibition at Abu Dhabi on the morning of Feb 17.

She had been invited to the visit by UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the ruler of Dubai.

Hasina was the first Bangladesh leader who attended the "prestigious" Munich security conference in 2017, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told a briefing on Wednesday.  

She has been invited this year to address two sessions — “climate change as a security threat” and “health security”. She will also talk about the Rohingya crisis, he said.

“We are expecting that there will be a bilateral meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel,” Momen said.

The prime minister will meet separately the global president and CEO of Siemens AG and the CEO of Veridos GmbH, which is implementing an e-passport project in Bangladesh.

A joint development agreement can be signed with Siemens that has proposed a big investment in the sector for power.

THE ITINERARY

Hasina will join a reception hosted by expatriate Bangladeshis at Hotel Sheraton in Munich, where she will be staying during her visit. 

On Friday morning, she will join the inaugural ceremony of the international security conference, where defence cooperation will be discussed.

The prime minister, among other sessions and programmes, will join the roundtable conference – ‘Health in crisis- WHO cares’ -- organised by Centre for Strategies and International Studies and World Health Organisation.   

She will then meet Nobel laureate Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and Dr Fatou Bensouda, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

She will join a dinner reception with World Economic Forum President Børge Brende and Jigsaw CEO Jared Cohen.

On Saturday, the prime minister is likely to join a panel discussion on ‘Climate change as a security threat’ and leave on a night flight to Doha.

Hasina will visit Abu Dhabi from Feb 17 to Feb 19. She will hold bilateral talks with UAE leaders as she will also join the 14th International Defence Exhibition (IDEX 2019) in the United Arab Emirates. 

She will meet Shekha Fatima Binte Mubarak Al Ketbi, wife of the late founder president of the UAE Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahiyan at the Al Bahar Palace.

She may have a bilateral meeting with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktum, the vice president and prime minister of Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai.

The prime minister is likely to join a programme hosted by the expatriate Bangladeshis in Abu Dhabi before returning to Dhaka on Feb 20.