German President is on a Bangladesh Visit

[eastwatch]

German President accorded warm reception

Tuesday, 29 November 2011 Author / Source : BSS

DHAKA, Nov 28: Red carpet was rolled out, cannons boomed 21 times at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport as German President Christian Wulff arrived here today on a three- day official visit to Bangladesh. President Zillur Rahman welcomed the German President at the tarmac when he alighted from a special aircraft of Deutsche Lufthansa at the Airport at 1.20 pm. The two presidents shook hands and greeted each other, while a tiny tot presented bouquets to the Christian Wulff.

A smartly turned out contingent comprising army, navy and air forces gave a guard of honour to the German President. Christian Wulff visited the guards and took salute. Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury, Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzak, Ambassador-at-large M Ziauddin, chiefs of the three services, Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes, German Ambassador to Bangladesh Michael Holger and Bangladesh Ambassador to Germany Masud Mannan as well as high civil and military officials were present at the airport to receive the President.

The German President is visiting Dhaka at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Zillur Rahman in order to strengthen bilateral ties and trade relations between Dhaka and Berlin.
The German President is leading an 84-member delegation, comprising members of the German parliament, state secretaries of the foreign office and the economics and technology ministry as well as a high-level business delegation. Wullf’s visit here is marked as the first trip of any German President to Bangladesh since 1986.

From the airport, the German President went straight to Savar for paying tribute to the martyrs of the War of Liberation in 1971 at the National Memorial. The issue of trade cooperation will be of paramount importance during the visit of the German President, the official sources said. Bangladesh exported goods worth US Dollar 3438.70 million to Germany during four-and-half months in 2011-12 fiscal against an import of 691.30 million.

From Savar he returned to Hotel Westin where he held his first meeting with the representatives of German institutions in Dhaka. In the evening, Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni called on the German President at his hotel suite. On November 29, Christian Wulff will visit Bangabandhu Memorial Museum to pay his tribute to the memories of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi.

From the Museum, Wulff will go to the nearby Goethe- Institute to meet with the representatives of the civil society. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to meet the German President at Hotel Ruposhi Bangla at 12.15 pm. Sheikh Hasina will also host a lunch in honor of the German President. After the lunch, Christian Wulff will meet the press at the same hotel at 2.20 pm.

Wulff will attend a state banquet to be hosted by President Zillur Rahman at Bangabhaban in the evening. Before joining the dinner, the two Presidents will also hold 25-minute bilateral talks there. The German President is also scheduled to visit Dhaka University to deliver speech and join a discussion with teachers and students on the same day.

He will leave Dhaka on November 30 afternoon after a boat-ride in the River Buriganga in the morning. Christian Wulff was elected president of Germany on June 30 last year. He is Germany’s youngest president (51 years) and also the first Roman Catholic president in more than 40 years.

 

[integra]

Well there was an interesting version on BDNEWS24, let me share.....
Khaleda-Hasina 'conflict baffles German president'

Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Dhaka, Nov 29 (bdnews24.com)—The German president is baffled by conflicting attitudes of the top two leaders of the two major political parties, the Transparency International's Bangladesh chapter head says.

"Christian Wulff said Bangladesh is a land of great potential and it can be a role model for many countries and that he can understand. But he doesn't understand the conflict between the top leadership of the two major parties," executive director Iftekhar Zaman told the bdnews24.com after a meeting with the German president on Tuesday.

Wulff came to Dhaka on a three-day visit on Monday and he met a select group of civil society leaders at the Goethe-Institut Tuesday morning.

"He also inquired about the impact of this conflict on the young generation as they are the torch bearers of society," Iftekhar said.

"We replied that there is some impact but young generation has a forward-looking attitude and that's why they brought Awami League to power," he said adding, "If this conflict continues, they will make the hero to zero."

Sheikh Hasina, the current prime minister and head of Awami League, and Khaleda Zia, former prime minister and head of BNP, are the top two political figures in the country but they seldom interact on any issue and have negative attitude towards each other.

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

The German president has a 'very positive attitude' about Bangladesh and after his visit it would be more strengthened, according to Iftekhar.

"The president has very positive attitude and found Bangladesh an exceptional country."

"Progress in Bangladesh can be a role model for many countries in the world," he further quoted Wulff as saying .

Former caretaker government adviser Sultana Kamal, who was also present in the meeting, said the president lauded the country as 'progressive."

"He said he would go back to Germany with very positive attitude," Kamal said.

CORRUPTION AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

In the meeting, corruption and good governance issues were also discussed.

The German president inquired about corruption in Bangladesh, Ifthekar said.

"We told them corruption can be seen everywhere in the world and many steps have been taken to uproot it," he said.

In the meeting, women empowerment, human rights and poverty alleviation issues were also discussed.

Chairman of BRAC Fazle Hasan Abed, Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam, professor Meghna Guha Thakurata and professor Mohammad Ibrahim were the others who attended the meeting.

 

[eastwatch]

German President accorded warm reception

Tuesday, 29 November 2011 Author / Source : BSS

DHAKA, Nov 28: From the airport, the German President went straight to Savar for paying tribute to the martyrs of the War of Liberation in 1971 at the National Memorial. The issue of trade cooperation will be of paramount importance during the visit of the German President, the official sources said. Bangladesh exported goods worth US Dollar 3438.70 million to Germany during four-and-half months in 2011-12 fiscal against an import of 691.30 million.

I am a little confused at the BD-German trade figures. Can it be US$3438.70 million export only in the four and a half months of this fiscal year? Can someone post the real figure?

 

[integra]

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[InFn-0]

The German president raised an important question regarding how the younger generation views this political conflict between AL and BNP. Truth is, the younger generation could not be more indifferent to what happens between AL and BNP, which is a very good thing.

 

[Avisheik]

I am a little confused at the BD-German trade figures. Can it be US$3438.70 million export only in the four and a half months of this fiscal year? Can someone post the real figure?

It is projected that bd exports to germany will be $3.5 bil, according to the financial express

 

[eastwatch]

Businesses for long-term ties in trade

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Businesses for long-term ties in trade
Staff Correspondent

German businessmen look to ways of forming long-term trade and investment ties with Bangladesh instead of making quick money, said the leader of the delegation accompanying visiting German President Christian Wulff.

"We have not come here for easy buck. We are here for building a long-term relationship," said Dr Karl-Ernst Brauner, director of the Department of Foreign Trade Policy of Germany's Ministry of Economics and Technology, at a luncheon meeting yesterday.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) organised the meet at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in honour of the visiting German business delegation and entourage with Wulff.

The remark of Brauner came after FBCCI President AK Azad called upon German entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh, which has been growing at around 6 percent a year for the past decade.

"We have 50 million trained and educated workforce and sizeable domestic market of 147 million people and steady economic growth," Azad said.

Azad also cited growing export earnings in the past two decades, and scope for the country's duty-free exports of most of its products to EU, Japan Australia and Canada.

Noting bilateral trade between the two countries, Brauner said Bangladesh enjoys a huge trade surplus with Germany. But Germany is not so concerned about the trade deficit, he added.

At another programme, while calling on Bangladesh's Commerce Minister Faruk Khan, Brauner said Germany will raise the concern of Bangladesh regarding a proposed duty-waiver facility to Pakistan by EU at the next World Trade Organisation meeting in Brussels.

“I will raise the matter to the meeting. But, I have not made up my mind yet in this regard,” Brauner said after meeting Khan at his secretariat office.

Pakistan demanded a duty waiver from EU for its 75 products, mainly textile and readymade garments, as the country faced devastating floods last year.

 

[bdslph]

we are the BIGGEST EXPORTER OF GARMENT TO GERMANY / EUROPE