Country has potential to export cement

Textile Minister Abdul Matin Chowdhury on Wednesday said the country has the potentiality to earn foreign exchange by exporting cement.

"I think Bangladeshi cement industry has the potentiality to produce export quality cement."

The minister was speaking at the launching ceremony of Mir Cement Ltd at a city hotel. The company launched it 'Pyramid Brand' cement on the day.

Disaster Management and Relief Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf was also present on the occasion.

Mir Zahir Hossain, managing director of Mir Cement Ltd, said even six years back cement used to be imported especially from China, Korea and Indonesia. After 1996, the country started to establish cement factories and now the cement industry is becoming a potential sector in the country.

"Our goal is to produce export quality cement in the country and also to prove that local companies can produce better cement than other foreign countries," he said.

Mir Cement Ltd has a capacity of producing 600 tons cement per day. The company is importing raw materials from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Professor Shamsuzzaman Basunia of Civil Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Southeast Bank Managing Director Syed Abu Naser Bakhtiar Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.