Megawati arrives in Dhaka on 3-day visit

Megawati arrives in Dhaka on 3-day visit

DHAKA (Agencies): Indonesian Vice President Megawati
Soekanoputri arrived here on Friday on a three-day official
visit, the first by a senior Jakarta leader since Bangladesh's
independence in 1971.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed welcomed her guest at
Dhaka's Zia International Airport as Megawati and her 72-member
entourage flew in from Geneva, AFP reported.

Megawati later visited the suburban town of Savar and laid a
wreath at the National Monument for Martyrs of Bangladesh's 1971
war of independence from Pakistan.

She then returned to the capital for a series of events,
including meeting President Shahabuddin Ahmed and a dinner with
the Prime Minister.

The official BSS news agency said during the courtesy meeting
with Ahmed, Megawati called for closer cooperation between the
two countries for the development of their peoples.

Official talks, scheduled for Saturday with Foreign Minister
Abdus Samad Azad, were expected to cover new avenues for
enhancing Dhaka-Jakarta trade links.

There currently is a heavy trade imbalance between the two
nations. Bangladesh currently imports US$159 million worth of
goods from Indonesia, yet only exports $9 million.

The visit is also aimed at bolstering international and
regional support for Indonesia in its efforts to consolidate its
democracy, BSS reported.

The Vice President and Prime Minister are both members of
political dynasties.

Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of Bangladesh's founding
president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, assassinated in 1975, while
Megawati is the daughter of Indonesia's founding president
Sukarno.

Megawati is due to leave Bangladesh on Sunday for Malaysia
where she will spend three days before returning home.