Foreign adviser proposes town twining between Petersburg, Ctg

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Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, during a meeting with First Vice-Governor Victor N Lobko of St Petersburg City government, proposed the twining of Chittagong and St Petersburg cities, reports UNB.
St Petersburg already has such arrangements with many other cities in the world, which have led to mutual benefit.
During discussions, they spoke of the possibilities of the use of many academic and medical institutions in St Petersburg for the use of Bangladeshi students, according to a press release.
The Foreign Adviser said this would encourage more Bangladeshi students to take advantage of Russian scholarship offers. "There is also ample scope for expanding trade, and I have discussed this with the leadership of the Russian Federation in Moscow," he added.
Chowdhury, who spent a few hours in the port city, returned to Moscow on Wednesday and met with Ivan S Materov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Energy with whom he discussed bilateral cooperation in energy, gas exploration and investment.
The Adviser attended a reception hosted in his honour by the Bangladesh chargé d'affaires of Bangladesh Rezina Ahmed at the Bangladesh House. The reception was largely attended by many ministerial and high level representatives of the Russian Federation and Regional Governments.
A number of Russian legislators, foreign Ambassadors and journalists were also present.
The Adviser explained the current developments of Bangladesh to expatriate Bangladeshis residing in Moscow, and encouraged them to invest in Bangladesh with the possibilities of high return now and better than ever. "Our expatriates are a major source of our economic growth and progress," he said.