Hasina flies to Italy today

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today leaves for Italy on a four-day visit to attend the World Summit on Food Security 2009 in Rome.

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will organise the three-day summit beginning on November 16 at a time when the world is facing food crisis due to climate change and global economic recession.

The prime minister, leading a high-profile government delegation to the summit, will fly to Rome via Dubai by a Bangladesh Biman flight in the morning.

In Dubai, she will attend the 11th International Aerospace Exhibition and hold a meeting with her United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart in the afternoon.

During her stay in Rome, she will take part in the inaugural function of the summit scheduled to be held at the FAO headquarters.

She will make her statement in the summit on November 16 in the afternoon.

The prime minister will also attend a roundtable meeting on "Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Challenges for Agriculture and Food Security".

Apart from this, she is expected to hold separate meetings with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, FAO Director General Dr Jacques Diouf and Executive Director of World Food Programme Josette Sheeram.

Hasina will also meet Pope Benedict XVl at the Holy See.

She will attend a reception to be accorded to her on November 16 and will hold a meeting with Bangladeshis living in Europe and Italy at Cinema Teatro Orione on November 17. She is expected to return home on November 19.

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Food Minister Abdur Razzak, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, will be, among others, in the prime minister's entourage.