Economic Reporter :
High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the United Kingdom, Sayeda Muna Tasnim met with Zakia Sultana, senior secretary of the Ministry of Industry, in a meeting to ensure speedy compliance with the Hong Kong Convention 2009 in Bangladesh’s ship recycling and ship reprocessing industry.
The meeting held on Thursday at the office of the senior secretary of the Ministry of Industry in Motijheel of the capital.
They stressed over the necessary cooperation from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and development partners about stipulating the measures for the Ministry of Industry in this issue.
It was informed in the meeting that Bangladesh is one of the major ship recycling countries in the world. The Hong Kong International Convention, 2009 (Hong Kong Convention) was enacted under the auspices of the IMO for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of end-of-life ships. Hong Kong Convention has been ratified by Bangladesh on 12 June 2023. Accordingly, if the Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) in all yards is not compliant with the Hong Kong Convention by 2025, no new ship breaking could be approved by the Ministry of Industry.
Therefore, in order to sustain this potential industry of Bangladesh, the overall preparations and actions must be quickly determined, including taking the necessary cooperation and advice from international maritime organizations and development partners.
The meeting was attended by Shamimul Haque, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Industries, Joint Secretary Pratap Chandra Biswas, Project Director of IMO-Norway sensrec Project Phase III Sanjay Kumar Ghosh and National Project Manager of IMO Md. Jasim Uddin Badal.
