DHAKA — Cheap gas and labor once powered Bangladesh’s industrial growth, but that era is over, business leaders and economists said. Domestic natural gas extraction is falling by about 100 mmcf (million metric cubic feet) a year. To sustain industry and employment in that environment, the country has no choice but to rely on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) alongside solar power and energy-efficient technology, speakers said.
The remarks came at a roundtable on the future of Bangladesh’s energy sector, hosted Saturday by the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) at its Motijheel office in the capital. The Bangladesh Sustainable and Renewable Energy Association (BSREA) and Greentech Foundation co-organized the event.
Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, a former adviser to a caretaker government and executive chairman of the Power and Participation Research Center (PPRC), said as chief guest: “We must move beyond conventional thinking on energy security and work with new and innovative ideas. We particularly need to be more active in adopting land-based FSRUs — floating storage and regasification units — and energy-efficient equipment.”
He said a lack of coordination is the biggest constraint. “A monitoring cell can be set up under a public-private partnership (PPP) to oversee the energy situation,” he said. “If business and government work together, sustainable solutions to the energy problem are possible.”
BCI President Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez described the scale of the current crisis. “Energy is the most critical input for industry and employment. Since 2022 we have no longer enjoyed the advantage of cheap energy, but we have to move forward with a constructive attitude,” he said.
He stressed making specific proposals to the government. “Just as we don’t want industries to shut down, neither does the government,” Parvez said. “To get out of the crisis, we have to come to the government with specific and technical proposals so that it can take the issue seriously.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report