Bangladesh next shipbuilding hub

Bangladesh has the potential of becoming a shipbuilding hub as foreign investors are coming with investments in the sector, said the chief of a Dutch delegation yesterday. The country has already proved that it can produce ocean-going vessels with cheap labour, said Fred Oldenhuizing.
As a result, foreign companies are coming either to set up joint ventures or place purchase orders with local shipbuilders, he said.
"We want to build more ships here," Oldenhuizing told reporters after a business meeting at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).
Bangladesh, however, needs to solve its traffic problems and ensure an adequate supply of gas and power to the industrial sector to harness the potential for shipbuilding, he said.
DCCI organised the meeting for the visiting Dutch Maritime Trade Mission to discuss the prospects and problems of investing in the shipbuilding industry.
Oldenhuizing, also the president of Bangladesh-Dutch Chamber of Commerce (BDCC), said Dutch entrepreneurs were encouraged to invest in shipbuilding, as Bangladesh has already exported quite a few ocean-going vessels to Germany and Denmark, two major economies in Europe.
Jacob Gnodde, a member of the delegation, said his company Hollander Scholtens is in the process of purchasing a piece of land in Gazaria, an area on the Meghna river in Munshiganj, to set up a ship assembling company, Delta Stream Shipbuilding Ltd.
The initial cost of the project is estimated to be around Tk 150 crore, which might be increased. "We have a target to assemble ships for the local market as well," he said. He hopes the project will start soon.
Tofazzel Hossain Miah, a director of the Board of Investment (BoI), said Bangladesh enjoys a comparative advantage of cheap labour while its workers are laborious.
The government also offers the foreign investors incentives, which should encourage them to come forward.
"The foreign investors can repatriate full or partial profits and there is no restriction in investment except certain specified areas," he said.
Chairing the meeting, Abul Kasem Khan, DCCI president, said bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the Netherlands is not significant. According to statistics from Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh exported goods worth $1 billion to the Netherlands against imports of $128.40 million in fiscal 2009-10.