PM departs Switzerland for home

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Zurich this evening for home concluding her five-day tour in Switzerland.

A flight of Emirates Airlines left Zurich International Airport for Dubai at 2.45 pm local time. After about a four hour stopover in Dubai she will leave for Dhaka at 4.00am tomorrow.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to the UN Offices Shameem Ahsan saw the Prime Minister off at the airport.

The flight carrying the prime minister and members of her entourage is scheduled to reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Dhaka at 10.15am tomorrow.

Sheikh Hasina arrived in Switzerland on January 16 to attend 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at the invitation of Executive Chairman of the WEF Prof Klaus Schwab.

The WEF annual meeting was held in Davos from January 17 to 20 with its main theme being the theme "Responsive and Responsible Leadership".

Sheikh Hasina was the first elected Bangladeshi leader to attend the high profile annual global meeting that draws statesmen, top business leaders and the intelligentsia to discuss crucial global issues.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and state minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palok accompanied the prime minister during the visit.

Apart from taking part in the WEF events the prime minister held meeting with WEF Executive Chairman Klaus Schwann. She also attended a number of events on the sidelines of the Forum.

The WEF best known for its annual meeting in every January in Davos brought together some 3,000 top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals, and journalists this year to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world.

This year's WEF meeting focused on five critical leadership challenges in 2017: strengthening global collaboration, restoring a sense of shared identity, revitalising economic growth, reforming capitalism and preparing for the "Fourth Industrial Revolution".