2024-04-21 01:39:31
High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the United Kingdom, Sayeda Muna Tasnim, held a meeting with the senior secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Zakia Sultana, to ensure the speedy implementation of the Hong Kong Convention-2009 in Bangladesh’s ship recycling industry.
The meeting was held on Thursday (April 18) at the office of the senior secretary in the Ministry of Industry at Motijheel in the capital. At this time, important discussions were held regarding the determination of the Ministry of Industry with the necessary cooperation from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and development partners.
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. Bangladesh ratified the Hong Kong Convention on 12 June 2023. As such, no new ship breaking approval for ship recycling will be obtained from the Ministry of Industry unless the treatment storage and disposal facilities in all yards comply with the Hong Kong Convention by 2025. Therefore, in order to sustain this potential industry of Bangladesh, the overall preparations and actions must be quickly determined, including the necessary cooperation and advice from international maritime organizations and development partners.
In the meeting, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Industry Shamimul Haque, Joint Secretary Pratap Chandra Biswas, IMO-Norway Sensrec Project Phase III Project Director Sanjay Kumar Ghosh and IMO’s National Project Manager. Jasim Uddin Badal participated.