President Mohammed Shahabuddin welcomed Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday afternoon as Bangladesh rolled out the red carpet complete with gun salute at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
The Emir of Qatar arrived at 5pm for a two-day state visit at the invitation of the president of Bangladesh.
The president and the emir exchanged flowers at the airport on his arrival and exchanged greetings with the representatives of Bangladesh and Qatar in the presentation line after receiving the salute.
During the trip, President Shahabuddin will host an official lunch in honour of the emir at Darbar Hall followed by a cultural programme at Bangabhaban on Tuesday.
On the other hand, the visiting emir will sign the visitor's book after the courtesy meeting with the president.
Bangladesh and Qatar will sign 11 cooperation documents- six agreements and five MoUs, Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud came up with the update while briefing the media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.
Such a high-level 24-hour visit is taking place from friendly country Qatar nearly after 19 years.
The then Emir of Qatar Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani visited Bangladesh in April, 2005.
On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will receive the emir at her office.
They will have tête-à-tête (one-to-one) meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office which will be followed by a bilateral meeting, witness the signing of multiple cooperation documents between the two nations, including 6 MoUs, and join a joint press meet.
After signing the visitors' book there, the emir will head for Bangabhaban on Tuesday afternoon where the president will receive him.
Alongside, the emir will inaugurate the park in Kalshi area of Mirpur under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and a road running from Mirpur ECB Chattar to Kalshi Flyover at 3pm, which will be named after the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the visiting emir's father and predecessor.
He is scheduled to depart Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by a special flight at 6pm Tuesday while he foreign minister will see him off at the airport.
Qatar recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign state on March 4, 1974 following the 2nd OIC Summit held in February 1974.
Bangladesh opened its diplomatic mission in Doha on June 25, 1975. The State of Qatar reciprocated by opening its diplomatic mission in Dhaka in 1982.
More than 400,000 Bangladeshis work in Qatar and they are appreciated as dedicated and hard working.
Recently the two nations have engaged in extensive economic cooperation in the vital energy sector, as the tiny Gulf state is home to the world's largest per capita reserves of hydrocarbons, while Bangladesh since 2022 has been a major buyer in the region of LNG (liquefied natural gas) in particular, of which Qatar has been the world's highest supplier.
Liberation war affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, foreign minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, chiefs of the three services, principal secretary to the prime minister, foreign secretary, Inspector General of Police (IGP), secretaries concerned to the president office and senior military and civil officials were present there.