Shipbuilding to help turn Bangladesh into middle-income country: Industry Minister

Industry Minister Dilip Barua Saturday said growing shipbuilding sector would help turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country through earning more foreign exchanges for the country. He made this remark during his visit to Western Marine Shipyard Ltd at 4 no Kolgaon under Patiya upazila in Chittagong.
The Minister said that shipbuilders in Bangladesh had demonstrated combined efforts to capture significant orders from international buyers from Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands and Finland for building vessels.
Barua said cheap labour, better infrastructure facilities and policies conducive to foreign investors were helping country's shipbuilding industry to grow.
Underscoring the necessity of foreign investment for the economic development of the country, the industries ministers urged foreign entrepreneurs to invest more Bangladesh.
He thanked the Dutch government through Danish Ambassador in Dhaka for its support to Bangladesh's shipbuilding industry.
The minister said Western Marine Shipyard had been contributing for developing of the sector. He also pledged to extend all possible supports to the company from the government.
Danish Ambassador in Dhaka Einar H. Jensen and local MP Shamsul Hoque Chowdhury were present as special guests at the ceremony, which was conducted by Major (Rtd) Jalal Khaled, Quality Management Director of Western Marine Shipyard Ltd.
Danish Ambassador Jensen appreciated a recommendation of a government formed committee to allocate Tk 400 crore for the shipbuilding industry.
In his welcome address, Western Marine Managing Director Md Sakhawat Hossain said the industry had brought a silent revolution in the country's economic development.
He said Chittagong could be a hub for shipbuilding industry due to its geographical advantage and natural deep-water harbour. "Eastern bank of river Karnaphuli is a perfect site to develop the industry in Chittagong," Hossain added.
He said about 10 to 12 prospective shipbuilders are interested to establish shipyards in Chittagong.
Earlier, the minister and other guests visited the shipyard and expressed their satisfaction.
Western Marine has built an international standard shipyard on 20-acre area at 4 no. Kolgaon under Patiya upazila in Chiitagong.
Currently, Western Marne is engaged in building five container vessels for Denmark, 12 multipurpose vessels for Germany and one floating reception vessel and pontoon barge for Finland. The total cost of the ships is equal to approximately US $200 million.