CM Mamata Banerjee On 11-Day Tour To Dubai, Spain To Attend Business Meetings

During her visit to Spain she will travel to Madrid and Barcelona. She said she was travelling because she wants to do something for Bengal.

She said this will be her first foreign tour in five years as the Centre "had not given her necessary permission earlier".

Source : Representational Image/Getty

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday morning left for an 11-day tour of Spain and Dubai, during which she will attend several business summits in an attempt to attract investments to the state. Banerjee flew for Dubai from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose international airport at 9.40 am, She will spend the night at the West Asian city due to the unavailability of connecting flights, before flying to Spain's capital Madrid the next day.

Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi and senior office-bearers of renowned Kolkata football clubs Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting are accompanying the chief minister.

The former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly will join her team in Madrid.

Banerjee said that they would stay in Madrid for three days to attend a business summit and meet non-resident Bengalis. They will then travel to Barcelona by train to participate in a two-day meeting for the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS).

"Spain was the theme country of this year's International Kolkata Book Fair, and it also participated in our film festivals. They are good in (apparel) manufacturing. We hope they will participate in this year's BGBS," she said.

After this, she and her team will return to Dubai to attend one meeting on BGBS and a few other meetings. 

"We will stay in Dubai for one-and-half days before returning to Kolkata on September 23," she told PTI.

She said this will be her first foreign tour in five years as the Centre "had not given her necessary permission earlier".

When asked if she will meet any officer-bearer of any football club during her stay in Barcelona, which is home to several world-famous football clubs, she said “let there be some surprises”. She said that she was visiting these places because she wants to do something for Bengal. According to PTI, Banerjee may meet La Liga president Javier Tebas during her stay in Barcelona.