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Hasina to

visit EU

DHAKA: Sheikh Hasina Wajed will become the first elected Bangladeshi Prime Minister to visit the European Union this week, with talks likely to focus on trade, aid, and domestic politics.

"It is an opportunity to develop political cooperation between the EU and Bangladesh," said EU ambassador Antonio de Souza Menez, in comments carried by the UNB news agency on Saturday.

He said Sheikh Hasina's trip was "very significant," as Dhaka was the spokesman of the Least Developing Countries (LDCs) group and a member of United Nations Security Council.

Bangladeshi officials said the premier would try to boost trade with EU members during her four-day visit starting Tuesday.

The EU has become the largest donor of development aid to Bangladesh with annual instalments worth 100 million dollars along with food assistance.

The trip will take place on the eve of the signing of a cooperation agreement to boost political, trade and commerce ties, and prevent drug smuggling and money laundering, officials said.

Ambassador Menez admitted that aid volume had gone down, but "we have no intention of diminishing it."

"Volume of aid is not important, what needs attention is the capacity of absorption of funds ... Now the focus has been changed from project-oriented aid to sector-oriented aid," he said.

On foreign investment, the envoy said Dhaka deserved praise for its trade liberalisation, but warned it had to be accompanied by certain structural reforms.

"Bangladesh is in a competitive situation (and) if you don't move fast enough, you will miss the bus," he warned, reflecting donor feelings on the pace of reforms.ÑAFP