German delegation seeks shipbuilding partnership

A visiting German business delegation yesterday expressed its interest in forming a sustainable, long-term partnership in shipbuilding and other sectors in Bangladesh.

“German companies operate with long-term perspective, including transfer of technology and know-how and involvement of local partners in value creation,” said Peter Clasen, head of the visiting delegation of OAV-German Asia-Pacific Business Association.

“Their approach (German companies) is not short-term profit but a sustainable long-term partnership,” he said.

The statement came at a seminar on shipbuilding industry at the country's biggest shipbuilder Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd (ASSL) at Meghnaghat on the outskirts of the capital.

Citing cooperation between Komrowski Group, a Hamburg-based trading and shipping company, and Ananda Shipyard, Clasen said: “We wish further cooperation between Bangladesh and Germany in shipbuilding and related industries.”

The German delegation arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a weeklong trip to explore business opportunities in shipbuilding, energy, engineering and textiles in Bangladesh.

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan and German Ambassador in Bangladesh Holger Michael were present at the programme chaired by ASSL Chairman Abdullahel Bari.

Khan said his ministry had attached utmost attention to the development of shipbuilding. “Bangladesh has demonstrated its skills in building ships of international standards,” he said.

In the past several years, two local shipbuilders ASSL and Western Marine Shipyard Ltd bagged orders for making more than 40 vessels of about $600 million mainly from European buyers.

ASSL has handed a couple of ships to its buyers in Denmark and Mozambique.

Discussants at the seminar observed that Bangladesh has the capacity to tap the global shipbuilding market as it can provide skilled and semiskilled workers at low-cost compared to other shipbuilding nations.

Operators said about 200 shipyards and workshops, employing about 100,000 skilled and semiskilled workers, are in operation to meet demand of the riverine country, offering a cheaper man-hour than any other shipbuilding country.

The industry estimates that ships built in Bangladesh would be about 15-20 percent cost competitive compared with the countries such as India, China, Korea and Singapore.

“I would like to convey my message through the German delegation to Europe and to the maritime world that Bangladesh would play a potential role in the global export shipbuilding market in coming years,” said the minister.

“The government will extend all support enabling the sector to thrive with quality and compete with other ship exporting countries,” Khan said.

He urged the developed nations to transfer technology to Bangladesh, which will develop the sector.