Cultural meet in Australia

Bangladesh Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and Australia's Federal Trade Minister Mark Vaile jointly inaugurated the festival at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour. Export Promotion Bureau Bangladesh (EPB), Bangladesh High Commission in Australia and State Chamber of Commerce of New South Wales jointly organised the festival.

A 20-member cultural delegation is participating in the festival. The festival was inaugurated with a dance, based on famous Tagore song Rangiye Diye Jao. At a seminar on Business and Investment Opportunities in Bangladesh, the artistes of the delegation presented an acclaimed cultural programme.

Country's leading singers Farida Parveen, Abida Sultana and Rafiqul Alam and young singer Luna Khandakar presented popular Bangla songs to a huge crowd.The dancers of the delegation also presented one of the oldest forms of Manipuri and Kathak dance.

The deputy leader of the cultural delegation Sherin Sultana Sherin and Programme Director and Manager Zinnat Barkutullah were also present. The dancers are Shafiqur Rahman, Farhana Chowdhury, Irin Parvin, Shahrima Bari Shinthy, Shahadat Hossain and Masudul Amin. The musicians are Gazi Abdul Hakim, Swapan Kumar Nag, ASM Reza, Mirza Khairul Hossain Monu and Abdul Mannan.

Famous international Model Bibi Russel's Fashion for Development group also staged a superb fashion show at the trade fair venue.

The Festival includes a three-day exclusive Bangladesh Trade Fair where 53 Bangladeshi companies are participating with their exportable products. The products include readymade garments, knitwear, hand textile, leather goods, footwear, jute goods, handicrafts, saris, artificial jewellery, ceramic products, plastic-ware, frozen foods, toiletries, kitchenware, computer software and accessories. According to the organisers, around 150 Australian importers, 100 Bangladeshi exporters and a large number of people attended the inaugural session.