Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has offered to Nepal the use of its newly constructed Payra port during a meeting with her Nepalese counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The two visiting ministers met at newly opened Bangladesh-Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Room in the FAO Headquarters on the sideline of the UN Food Systems Summit. Both leaders are in Rome to attend the summit. In the meeting, PM Hasina offered Nepal the use of theu Payra port, said Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen while briefing reporters. Read: Italy keen to take more manpower from Bangladesh in agri & hospitality sectors “Bangladesh has already opened the Chalna and Chittagong ports for Nepal. Nepal can use the newly constructed Payra port as well,” Momen  quoted her as telling Dahal. PM Hasina said Bangladesh is developing its Sayedpur airport as a regional hub to extend the connectivity in the region. The Nepalese premier  commended the development of Bangladesh under the successful leadership of PM Hasina, said Momen. Read: Time has come for a climate-smart agri-food revolution: PM Hasina tells UN food summit “You are a leader of our region,” Momen quoted him as saying. He said there is a huge scope of hydroelectricity generation in Nepal. In this context, Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh will take steps to import renewable energy particularly hydroelectricity after the first trilateral power trade from Nepal to Bangladesh through India for 40MW of power starts. Read: Bangladesh-Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Room opened at FAO Headquarters  Dahal mentioned that a good number of Nepalese students are pursuing their studies in Bangladesh.    

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to visit Rome, Italy later this month to discuss bilateral issues and attend the UN Food Systems Summit. The 2023 UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment will be held in Rome, Italy on July 24-26 at the premises of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It will be hosted by Italy in collaboration with the Rome-based UN Agencies (FAO, IFAD, WFP), the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, and the wider UN system. The Prime Minister is scheduled to be in Rome from July 23, said a diplomatic source. Also read: PM Hasina to visit Japan on April 25-28 She is likely to have a bilateral meeting with her Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni during the visit. PM Hasina will speak at the Food System Summit in Rome while her Italy visit is likely to see the signing of half a dozen bilateral documents in the areas of energy, migration, ICT and cyber security. Bangladesh and Italy have been discussing a possible memorandum of understanding (MoU ) on mobility and migration — to encourage regular migration and prevent irregular ones. “We want to go further in our cooperation on migration issues. In particular, creating and enlarging the existing legal channels or legal pathways for migration while stemming the irregular one,” Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Enrico Nunziata told UNB in an interview recently. Also read: PM leaves Geneva for home ending 3-day visit The envoy said the two countries have to deepen cooperation for preventing irregular migration, trafficking and so on. Ambassador Nunziata recalled one of the deliverables during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Italy in 2020 — reinsertion of Bangladesh in the list of countries whose nationals can benefit from a quota for work. Talking about collaboration in the defence sector, he said there is possibility of collaboration and transfer of know-how as well on a win-win basis. “So this is another important sector.” The ambassador said a memorandum of understanding in the cultural sphere for programmes of cultural exchanges is also in the pipeline. Also read: PM to brief media on the outcome of her Switzerland visit on Wednesday The Italian ambassador also said they want to collaborate in the shipbuilding industry for the Navy or Coast Guard by sharing know-how and technologies with Bangladesh. “I mean that level of know-how that Bangladesh has not reached in shipbuilding yet. Together we can do more on that in shipbuilding as well as in other sectors.” The 2023 UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment will build on the momentum of the 2021 Food Systems Summit and will create a conducive space for countries to review commitments to action that were made during the Summit, share stories of success and early signs of transformation, maintain the momentum for bold acceleration and bold action to further the resilience of food systems, advocate for their adaptation to climate change, ensure they contribute to communities’ resilience to further shocks and crises, and boost the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Read more: PM Hasina leaves for Geneva to attend World of Work Summit