Kolkata (West Bengal): The Centre on Thursday approved West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's visit to Europe. Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress chief, is scheduled to go to Dubai first, and then to Madrid in Spain on this foreign tour from Sept 12.
The approval was sought a long time ago. Finally, on Thursday, the approval for that visit was received by the state government. The tour is scheduled from Sept. 12-23. Mamata Banerjee will go abroad to bring business to West Bengal.
Earlier in 2018, Mamata Banerjee had to cancel her visit to Chicago at the last moment. Five years ago, she was invited on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's Chicago Conference, but it was cancelled at the last moment. She also had to call off her China tour at the last minute in 2018. But in both cases, the Centre refused permission.
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Then again in September 2021, the Centre did not approve Mamata Banerjee's tour of Rome. However, this time the Centre did give the approval without much ado. The West Bengal government had sent a letter to the Centre earlier this month about Mamata Banerjee's tour. The Chief Minister originally intended the visit to invite industrialists from outside the world to Bengal in view of the World Bengal Trade Conference. There have also been instances in the past of the Chief Minister's foreign tour having to be cancelled at the last minute thanks to the Centre's disapproval.
Keeping all that in mind, approval was sought much earlier this time. The schedule available so far is that the Chief Minister will arrive in Dubai on September 12, and from there she will leave for Spain on September 13. Mamata Banerjee will be in Spain from September 13-20.
In this case, she is supposed to meet the industrialists in several cities including Madrid and Barcelona. It is understood, she will take a flight back to Dubai from Barcelona on September 20. The Chief Minister will return to Dubai on her way back. After staying there for two days, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will take a return flight from Dubai to Kolkata on September 23.
This year's foreign visit of Mamata Banerjee is significant because the World Bengal Trade Conference is slated to be held here in November. Keeping that in mind, Mamata Banerjee will present the development of the state to the people of these two countries, besides inviting foreign businessmen for meetings. She may also invite Indian industrialists in these two countries to invest in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee is not alone in this visit. She is accompanied by a section of the state industrialists and bureaucrats of various departments.
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