Nepal can use Payra Port if it wants

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina offered Nepal the use of its newly constructed Payra Port during a meeting with her Nepalese counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal yesterday.

The two premiers met at the newly opened Bangladesh-Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Room in the FAO Headquarters in Rome.

The leaders are there to attend the UN Food Systems Summit.

"Bangladesh has already opened the Chalna and Chittagong ports for Nepal. Nepal can use the newly constructed Payra Port as well," Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen quoted Hasina as saying.

Hasina said Bangladesh is developing Saidpur airport as a regional hub to extend connectivity with the region.

The Nepalese PM commended the development of Bangladesh under the successful leadership of Hasina, said Momen.

"You are a leader of our region," Momen quoted him as saying.

He said there was a huge scope for hydroelectricity generation in Nepal. In this context, Hasina said Bangladesh will take steps to import renewable energy, particularly hydroelectricity, after the first trilateral power trade from Nepal to Bangladesh through India starts delivering 40MW of power.

Dahal mentioned that a good number of Nepalese students are pursuing studies in Bangladesh.