Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Saturday left for Bangkok en route to Seoul on a five-day visit to South Korea and Malaysia with a mission of giving a shot in the arm of Bangladesh’s bilateral relations with the two newly industrialized Southeast Asian nations.

A Thai Airways flight left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with the prime minister and her entourage on board at about 1:50pm.

Prime Minister’s Office sources said on way to Seoul, the PM will make a six-hour stopover in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, now in grips of worst political troubles in recent times.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive in Seoul Sunday to begin her two-nation tour. It will be the first visit by a Bangladesh leader to Seoul in 15 years.

In May 1995, former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia went to Seoul on a bilateral visit. Then South Korean Prime Minister Kim Suk-soo visited Dhaka in November 2002.   

On May 17, Hasina will deliver a keynote address at the opening ceremony of Commission Session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Sources said in Seoul, the prime minister would hold bilateral talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on May 18. “The two leaders will discuss cooperation in trade, energy and development during the talks,” one official said.

The prime minister is also scheduled to have bilateral talks with Maanee Lee, Minister of Environment, and Choi Kyung-Hwan, Minister of Knowledge Economy, at her hotel suite. Hasina will visit the hanging project of Seoul Metropolitan Government on the River Han. Besides, the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) will arrange a luncheon meeting in honor of the Bangladesh premier.

She will leave Seoul on May 18 afternoon for Kuala Lumpur where she holds talks with her Malaysian counterpart Najib bin Razak focusing on recruitment of Bangladeshi workers and expansion of bilateral trade and investment.

In the Malaysian capital, Hasina will also address the inaugural session of the three-day 6th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF), which will begin on May 18. She will leave Kuala Lumpur on May 20 and is scheduled to return home the next day at noon.

Deputy Leader of Parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Agriculture Minister Motia Chowdhury, Jute and Textiles Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, PM’s Adviser HT Imam, acting general secretary of Awami League Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Chief Whip Abdus Shahid, diplomats and the chiefs of the three services were among others present at the airport to see her off.

BDST: 1915, May 15, 2010
AKR/MUA