Bangladesh to make CNG three-wheelers

The government is set to manufacture CNG three-wheelers through state-run Atlas Bangladesh, said Industries Minister Dilip Barua yesterday.

“We are looking for prospective investors from India and China,” said Barua in his ministry's annual performance report.

“We will implement the plan within the shortest possible time, because we got offers to make three-wheelers locally from leading manufacturers of these two countries.”

The government started a project to assemble sedan car Lancer Ex and Pajero sports vehicle in Bangladesh under a joint venture with Progoti Industries Ltd and Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors.

Mitsubishi will assemble the cars at Progoti's Chittagong plant and already carried out a feasibility study. The Japanese carmaker is currently assembling Pajero Jeep V6 for Bangladesh in a deal with Progoti.

Barua said the adoption of a new industrial policy was a big success of his ministry, which envisions turning the country into a middle-income nation by 2021.

The new policy sets a target to increase the contribution of the industrial sector in GDP to 40 percent, from 28 percent now. “We hope to increase the contribution of the industrial sector to employment generation to be 25 percent from 16 percent,” he said.

Barua said a reduction in fertiliser prices was also a great success of the government. “It played a major role in strengthening the food security,” he said.

Last year, the government successfully tackled demand for fertiliser by ensuring smooth supply, said the minister. There will be no fertiliser crisis during the upcoming crop production season, he claimed.

According to the industries ministry's statistics, the urea demand will be 2.8 million tonnes this year. The government has a stock of 800,000 tonnes and has taken measures to increase the production and import.

The minister said the import of urea from Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia is going on as part of state-to-state deals. Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Ltd also agreed to sell its production to meet the peak demand.

Although no new industries were set up in the last two years, the ministry played promoted private-sector investment to set up industries, Barua said.

“We've provided adequate logistics and policy support to promote private-sector investment in the industry,” he said.