The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) and Saudi- based Engineering Dimension International Investment LLC (EDII) signed a joint venture agreement to set up a cement plant under the name of ‘Saudi Bangla Integrated Cement Company Ltd’ in Sunamganj.
The project is expected to start commercial operation by June 2023, a press statement said.
A ceremony to mark the signing of the joint venture agreement was held at BCIC Bhaban, in the capital on Monday.
Under the agreement, a cement plant with a capacity to process 12,000 tonnes of clinker from limestone and 3,000 tonnes of cement per day will be set up in Sunamganj,
Following the visit of Prime Minister Shekh Hasina to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in October, 2018, an MoU was signed for setting up a cement and clinker manufacturing factory in Chhatak, Sunamganj. After a detailed feasibility study by Singapore-based DG Infratech Pte. Ltd, the two institutions have finally signed the agreement to set up the project, the statement said.
The agreement was signed by Mustafizur Rahman, chairman of BCIC, and Hejji Mohammad Najeeb M, president and CEO of EDII virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions.
EDII’s Country Representative Golam Mostafa and other officials led by Yaseer Mahmud were present at the signing ceremony. Senior officials from the Ministry of Industries of the GOB and BCIC were also present to grace the occasion. The representative of DG Infratech Pte Ltd, Singapore, Syed Javed Iqbal was also present at the occasion.
Driven by the favorable economic conditions in Bangladesh for its cement industry, a group of Saudi Investors and BCIC agreed to move ahead with the plan of setting up an integrated cement manufacturing plant with state-of-the-art technology.
The project will cater to the demand of the clinker-based cement factories in Bangladesh by supplying four million tons of clinker per annum against the country’s import of nineteen million tons per annum and save $225 million in foreign exchange annually, the statement added.
