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Warm welcome awaits Kumaratunga

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga arrives in Dhaka this morning on a two-day visit to Bangladesh, being viewed as a big step forward in further expanding and strengthening the existing friendly ties between the two countries.
President Iajuddin Ahmed will receive her at the Zia International Airport at 11:00 am.
This will be the first visit to Bangladesh by a Sri Lankan president since 1995.
After a warm welcome at the airport, Kumaratunga will go to the National Memorial at Savar to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Liberation War.
She will call on President Iajuddin in the evening and attend a banquet in her honour at the Bangabhaban.
The Sri Lankan president and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will hold talks tomorrow.
Bilateral relations, particularly in the fields of trade, commerce and investment, are likely to figure
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prominently at the talks. Regional and global issues of common concern would also come up at the meeting. Besides, the two leaders would discuss how to make the SAARC more effective.
Kumaratunga will also meet the Sri Lankans staying in Bangladesh.
She will meet the press at Hotel Sonargaon before leaving Dhaka at 8:00 pm tomorrow.
Foreign ministry sources said Kumaratunga's visit would help both the countries explore new avenues of cooperation to expand and strengthen bilateral relations in economic and other fields.
"It is an important and significant visit," Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury said. It will reinforce the existing relations between Dhaka and Colombo, he added.
The two countries have deep friendly relations without any contentious issues between them.
The volume of bilateral trade was US$ nine million last year with Bangladesh's import bill being a little over six million dollars.
Sri Lanka's investment in Bangladesh stands at around US$ 90 million, mainly in sectors like readymade garments, hotel and insurance.