Vietnamese rice to reach Ctg in 15 days

Desk Report: Newly-appointed Vietnamese ambassador to Bangladesh Tran Van Khoa today said the first consignment of rice from Vietnam is scheduled to arrive in Chittagong within 15 days as he called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Jatiya Sangsad office on Thursday morning.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said the envoy told the premier that his country was exporting the rice under an extended memorandum of understanding (MoU) on rice trade with Bangladesh and the first consignment of Vietnamese rice is scheduled to reach Chittagong in next 15 days".

The prime minister appreciated the development saying Bangladesh needed to preserve extra grains to meet any possible eventuality.

"We want to preserve extra food to meet any eventuality," she said.

Sheikh Hasina also praised Vietnam's socioeconomic development saying the Southeast Asian nation achieved remarkable success after the war.

"Vietnam is an example to us . . . we (also) had to fight for independence like Vietnam," Sheikh Hasina said and conveyed Dhaka's keenness to strengthen connectivity and economic cooperation with Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations.

She said Bangladesh and Vietnam in particular could share their experiences in different fields like trade and culture.

Sheikh Hasina said after the independence, Bangabandhu got only three and a half years and started rebuilding the war-ravaged country.

Describing again poverty as the common problem for the developing countries, Sheikh Hasina called for working together to eliminate the curse of poverty.

"If we work together we can achieve success in this regard," she said.

Appreciating the continuous efforts of Bangladesh in combating terrorism and the adverse impacts of climate change, the Vietnamese ambassador said, "We've many commonalities and we can learn from each other."

He praised highly dynamic and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. "There have been impressive achievements in many sectors under your leadership," she said.

Tran Van also appreciated achieving of 7.24 percent GDP growth by Bangladesh in the outgoing fiscal year.

The ambassador conveyed the best wishes of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the Bangladesh premier.

He also handed over a book to Sheikh Hasina depicting the life of Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh also carrying the unforgettable memories of the War of Liberation.

Tran Van said that both the countries had recognised their respective War of Liberation and emphasised the exchange of visits by high-level delegations.

The newly appointed envoy said that his task would be to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries alongside continuing cooperation in various sectors.

PM's Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury and Senior PMO Secretary Suraiya Begum were present on the occasion.

Source: BSS


risingbd/Dhaka/June 22, 2017/A K Azad