She was greeted by Myanmar Labour Minister Aye Myint and Bangladesh ambassador to Naypyidaw Anup Kumar Chakma at 10.15am local time Monday.Hasina received a red carpet reception at the airport and was taken to the Royal Naypyidaw Hotel in a motorcade. Myanmarese children wearing traditional clothes stood on both sides of the road and waved flags of the two nations as her motorcade passed.The Prime Minister and her entourage will stay in this hotel during her two-day tour.She would hold bilateral meetings with the Prime Ministers of India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan on the sidelines of the summit, the foreign ministry has said.The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional grouping of seven members from South Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka - and South East Asia -Thailand and Myanmar.It began in June 1997 from Bangkok with the name BIST-EC –Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation – to promote economic cooperation.Later Myanmar joined and the group’s name was changed to BIMST-EC. In 2003 Nepal and Bhutan joined, but the nomenclature of the group remained unchanged.The grouping is currently focused on promoting 14 priority sectors of development and common concerns.
 
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Bangladesh is the lead country in the area of trade and investment, and climate change.On Monday, the Prime Minister will meet Myanmar President Thein Sein at the presidential palace. She will then visit the country’s parliament and hold a meeting with the Speaker Thura Shwe Mann.In the afternoon, Hasina is scheduled to have a 30-minute meeting with Nobel laureate Aung Sang Suu Kyi.At night, the Prime Minister will attend the dinner hosted by the Myanmar President.On the second day of her visit, she will attend the inauguration of the BIMSTEC summit and attend a joint press briefing.The third summit is also going to be held two years behind the schedule. The last one was held in 2008 in New Delhi and the first in 2004 in Bangkok.Three agreements are expected to be signed in the summit.A memorandum of association (MoA) on establishing climate change centre in India, and a memorandum of understanding on setting up a Cultural Industries Observatory in Bhutan would be signed.A MoA would also be inked for setting up a permanent secretariat in Bangladesh which was endorsed more than two years back.Dhaka has already allotted a premise at Gulshan for the Secretariat.Rohingya issue has strained ties between Bangladesh and Myanmar. The bilateral trade volume between the two neighbours stands at a meagre $100 million.Bangladesh has sheltered thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who had fled Myanmar during waves of sectarian violence.Officials say there are several hundred thousand unregistered Rohingyas in Bangladesh.The Prime Minister will return to Dhaka on Mar 4, officials said.  File Photo 