UAE keen to invest in Chattogram port 

UAE is eager to invest in Chattogram Port for the mutual financial gain of the two nations.

At his secretariat office here today, UAE ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah Ali Al Hamoudi expressed interest in meeting with Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, the interim government’s adviser on shipping, textiles, and jute.

The envoy expressed the UAE’s opinion that both countries will gain from its investment in Bangladesh, namely in the Chattogram port, since it is a friendly country.

The UAE envoy told the Adviser that Dubai-based ‘DP World’, an Emirati multinational logistic company, is now engaged in sea port management in more than 60 countries. 

“We have experience in construction of the London Gateway Port… We also have better experience in the sub-continental countries like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka on sea port management”, he said.

Welcoming the investment proposal of the UAE, the Adviser said, Bangladesh always welcome the foreign investment and the country has multidimensional relations with UAE in various sectors including trade and commerce.

“I think that the friendly relations between the two countries would reach to a new height through this investment,” Sakhawat said.

The advisor asked the UAE envoy to facilitate the issuance of transit visas for Bangladeshi seamen. In response, the UAE ambassador stated that they will give the situation serious thought.

Sakhawat Hossain also asked the UAE envoy to invest in Bangladesh’s textile and jute industries, pointing out that demand for Bangladesh’s environmentally friendly jute products is rising globally.

The Adviser added that foreign investment in Bangladesh’s jute and textile industries is growing rapidly and urged the UAE envoy to take these profitable industries into consideration for investment.

A delegation of five people from the UAE, led by the ambassador, attended the meeting together with senior officials, M Abdur Rauf, the secretary of Jute and Textiles, and Sanjoy Kumar Banik, the additional secretary of the Ministry of Shipping.