Vietnam seeks air link with Dhaka

Vietnam has expressed its keen interest to establish direct air connectivity with Bangladesh.

Ambassador of Vietnam to Bangladesh Pham Viet Chien expressed his country’s desire while holding a meeting with the state minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md. Mahbub Ali at the latter’s secretariat office in the capital on Tuesday.

The envoy said Vietnam is interested in operating direct flights on the Hanoi-Dhaka-Hanoi route to boost tourism and the aviation sector, and also promote a relationship among the people of the two countries.

The Vietnamese ambassador recalled the contribution of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during the liberation struggle of Vietnam.

“The people of Bangladesh and Vietnam had to struggle a lot for their independence and Vietnam wants to establish air connectivity with Bangladesh to facilitate the travel between the two friendly countries.”

Pham Viet Chain further said that the nature, rich culture, heritage and friendly people of Bangladesh are the great assets of Bangladesh’s tourism industry.

Bangladesh has all the potential to become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, he added.

The tourism and civil aviation sectors will play an important role in developing the field of cooperation between the two countries in the future, he said.

Echoing his statement, Mahbub Ali said that once there are direct flights between Bangladesh and Vietnam, business and tourism will boost, as well as the connection among the people.

As tourism master plan is being formulated for the overall development of the tourism sector in Bangladesh, construction work of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge, metro rails in the capital, railway line from Cox’s Bazar up to Ghumdum, the third terminal of Dhaka airport and other infrastructural development mega projects is underway.

All these underway projects will play a significant role in the overall development of the tourism industry in Bangladesh, he said.

The state minister also noted that the construction work is underway to upgrade the airport in Cox’s Bazar, which is the country’s major tourist