Continue your support for govt’s port management initiative, CA urges countrymen
Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus address the nation on the eve of the Eid-ul-Azha. Photo: PID
DHAKA, June 6, 2025 (BSS) – Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today urged the countrymen to continue their strong support for the interim government’s port management initiative.
“I urge the countrymen not to allow themselves to be the victims of baseless opposition and propaganda. Continue your strong support for the interim government’s port management move. Resist those who oppose it,” he said while delivering his telecasted address before the nation on the occasion of the Holy Eid-ul-Azha.
After Bangladesh became independent in 1971, Prof Yunus said, the country could not reach the height of economic progress that it was supposed to be at and the height that Bangladesh was supposed to stand tall before the world.
“We want Bangladesh to be established as the economic centre of South Asia. To this end, we have taken initiatives to increase capacity of the port apart from enhancing investment services,” he said.
If this is not possible, the unemployment of millions of the country’s people will not be addressed, the Chief Adviser said, adding that the economic crisis will remain the same.
Many people, he said, have been curious about Chittagong Port and sometimes it has been heard that this port is being given to foreigners.
“I said before that Chittagong Port is the heart of the Bangladesh’s economy. Currently, this heart is very weak. If we leave it in the current state, it will not be possible to move our economy forward. This heart has to be enlarged. It has to be strengthened. It has to be streamlined,” he said.
To do so, many initiatives have to be taken and the help of experts will be needed, Prof Yunus said, adding that the interim government is contacting with the operators which are the best and most experienced in port management in the world.
Professor Yunus said these firms are operating ports all over the world, including Europe, Canada, Australia, China, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa.
“Their job is to manage ports, while our goal is to learn port management from them as soon as possible. I can guarantee that if we learn port works by 2031, in the next 5 years that is by 2036 many of the ports in the world that these companies run will be managed by Bangladeshis,” he added.
The Chief Adviser said wherever one steps into a port, he or she will find Bangladeshis there. Many people will get employment opportunities as the port operators will give Bangladeshis jobs for their own needs, Prof Yunus said.
“If we can learn port management works once, wherever we go to a port in the future, we will see people from Chittagong, Noakhali, Sylhet and Barishal. People from Bangladesh,” he added.
The Chief Adviser said if Bangladeshi ports are modernised, those will not only play a role in the economy of Bangladesh, but it will also be able to play a positive role in the economies of all neighbouring countries, including Nepal and Bhutan.
The ports, he said, will be the key to the economic prosperity of this region.
Observing that the entire coastal region, from Kumira to Teknaf, will be established as an important economic centre of South Asia with the activities of different ports, he said many industrial zones will be developed in this entire region just because of the proximity of the sea and its efficiency.
Another new industry will be developed with it, the Chief Adviser said, adding that the industry of fish farming, harvesting and processing in the sea will be developed using modern methods and this will create another new world.
He said the sovereignty and national security of any country in the world has not been threatened where the port operators are involved in port management.