Bangladesh to establish fertilizer factory in KSA: FM

Staff Reporter :
Foreign Minister Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen has said the Saudi government has agreed to allow Bangladesh to establish a proposed urea fertilizer factory in Saudi Arabia.
“We want to establish the fertilizer factory there (in Saudi Arabia), they will give us benefits. Fertilizers can be produced there at a lower cost. They (Saudi Arabia)
 have agreed to it,” he said on Saturday.
After holding a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, during the Bangladesh Business Summit in the Bangabandhu International Convention Centre, Foreign Minister Dr Momen informed the reporters about establishment of a fertilizer factory.
Regarding the discussion with the Saudi Minister of Commerce, Momen said, “He said, no words, we want to work. Saudi has taken several projects here, and work has already begun on some of them.”
Mentioning the area of interests for Saudi investment, Dr Momen said, “Saudi government wants to invest in a number of sectors like energy, ports and airport. We have sought a big project from them and offered them a special economic zone in Chattogram for it.”
Dr. Momen also stated that he requested the Saudi Commerce Minister to import medicine from Bangladesh and employ skilled personnel from Bangladesh in the IT sector.
In reply to a query of bureaucratic tangles that bar the foreign investors for easy service, Momen said, “We have taken much effort to remove the bureaucratic tangles. We have enforced one-stop service. We are reducing the bureaucratic difficulties gradually.”
Recalling Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s commitment to remove bureaucratic complexities, he said, “The Prime Minister is very committed to this issue. She has said that no project should be stopped because of complexity. There should be no delay.”
Foreign Minister further said that a number of countries have expressed interests in investing in Bangladesh.
“We are telling the foreign investors that Bangladesh is a land of more than 170 million people. Here products can be manufactured with a lower cost. We have a big chunk of competent and affordable labour force. If you invest here, you can get benefits out of it.”