A Nordic trade delegation is now in Dhaka to hold meetings with over a hundred local firms seeking partnerships in the use of environment-friendly energy.
They attended first meeting yesterday and expressed interest to help Bangladesh achieve environmental standards in industrial growth.
Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu and State Minister for Power, Energy, Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, Swedish Ambassador Anneli Lindahl Kenny and Sweden ambassador to Bangladesh and Danish Ambassador Hanne Fugl Eskjær, among others, were present.
The delegation is expected to hold nearly 250 meetings till tomorrow focusing on finding win-win partnerships through technology and resource sharing for efficient use of the energy.
The Nordic team consists of 20 Danish companies, one Swedish company and an investment fund.
The Royal Danish Embassy and the Embassy of Sweden is organising the matchmaking meetings at Westin Hotel Dhaka.
“The largest ever Nordic trade team arrives in Bangladesh at an appropriate time as we envision becoming a middle-income country by 2021,” said Amir Hossain Amu.
He said as the country needs to notch up its energy generating capacity through new ventures and by increasing efficiency, the initiatives will help towards reaching that goal.
Nasrul Hamid said the energy security could only be achieved taking such opportunities, which are also to develop economies and international trade.
He added: “We have set our aim to generate 5% of the total energy generation from renewable sources by 2015 and 10% by 2020.”
Swedish envoy said the turnout of interested delegates along with the variety of technical expertise to be shared is overwhelming.
The advancement and technological progress like running a factory using the energy generated from the waste bought in by the workers sounds new to most of us I believe, she told the Dhaka Tribune on the sidelines.
According to Danish envoy, the last year’s success of green growth delegation have lured many others to Bangladesh, which aligns perfectly with the list, “Next 11 countries to watch” by Goldman Sachs where Bangladesh is added.
Anette S Galskjøt, commercial counsellor at the Royal Danish Embassy, presented a keynote paper focusing on Bangladesh’s energy needs and how it needs to figure out more diversified and sustainable sources.
She mentioned that the natural gas reserve of the country is expected to last only until 2030.
Danish investors have contributed $50m out of a $120m deal that was signed this week to set up a wind-turbine plant for adding 60MW energy.
The Nordic companies at the matchmaking session are from diversified fields such as sustainability, energy efficiency, handling and treatment of wastewater, agriculture and biogas, maritime equipment and several others.
Programme officer at the Danish Embassy, Tasmim Zahid Anwar said the financial support are often provided to few of the deals made for pilot projects, complying with necessary compliance and corporate social responsiveness.
