No gas crisis from 2018 with LNG import from Qatar: Minister
Dhaka: Commerce Minister Tofael Ahmed on Sunday said there will be no gas crisis in Bangladesh once Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import from Qatar begins in 2018.
"Bangladesh and Qatar have signed an MoU to import LNG for meeting domestic demand. Work on building NLG terminal will be completed by 2018 and then there'll be no gas crisis in the country," he said.
Tofail came up with the update after a meeting with the Ambassador of Qatar Ahmed Mohamed Al- Dehimi at his secretariat office.
With the import of LNG from Qatar, industrial units in the country, including the 100 special economic zones as declared by the prime minister will get adequate gas supply, he said.
Tofail said Bangladesh has the opportunity to increase the number of manpower in Qatar where Bangladeshi workers are working with good reputation.
He also said there is huge demand of Bangladeshi vegetables in Qatar and these products cannot be exported now as per the demand as there is no sufficient plants in Bangladesh to process the vegetables before export.
"It's possible to boost the export if Qatar agrees to invest in this sector," he added.
Tofail said the number of export items in Qatar is very low. "There's a huge possibility of exporting medicines, jute and jute products, IT products, frozen fishes, leather goods, ceramic and plastic products from Bangladesh."