FMC Dockyard Ltd., one of the country's leading shipbuilders, has received a new work order from the Sudanese government to export ASD tugboats, with the export value at 48 million AED, the company said in a statement.
FMC Dockyard authorities are expecting that the construction process will commence in the next 15 days, subject to approval of drawing and design by the Classification Society.
Mohammad Yasin Chowdhury, Chairman and CEO of FMC Dockyard Ltd, said, "I have always focused on creating a new global market for Bangladesh. Consequently there was an urge to prove that the African continent could be a lucrative new market for Bangladeshi shipbuilders in addition to Europe, America or the Middle East and we are proud to have the immense opportunity to export vessels from Bangladesh to Sudan for the first time.
Yasin Chowdhury further added that Bangladesh was gradually overcoming the stagnation in domestic and global trade. Various steps taken by the government for various industrial establishments during the pandemic period were also helping to overcome the recession.
China, South Korea, India and other countries have taken various initiatives to protect the shipbuilding industry. For instance, the government of India approved a cash incentive at the rate of 20 per cent on the export value of the vessels from 1st April 2016 to 2026. Chinese entrepreneurs are getting low interest loans as well as subsidies for their own raw materials. These initiatives are taken in those countries to protect such heavy industrial sectors from recession.
If the Government of Bangladesh offers equal opportunities for the local shipbuilders, a colossal new source of foreign exchange earnings will emerge, he said.
Despite having the capacity to build the most sophisticated new fangled vessels, only a few companies are exporting overseas. But to ensure that this sector is not confined to one or two shipbuilders, the government should extend adequate facilities as in all other countries, he added.
FMC is set to receive further work orders worth USD 200 million soon from various countries to export vessels from Bangladesh, though the process was delayed due to the Covid-19.
FMC Dockyard Limited, a major concern of FMC Group, is a globally-present company established in 2006 with the objective of providing solutions to the new complex ship-building, ship repairing and ship conversion industry. It's now recognized as the largest shipyard of Southeast Asia with total areas of 65 acres. It's the only dockyard in Bangladesh, which has its own forward and backward linkage industry.
FMC Dockyard Ltd is now building various types of most sophisticated vessels such as LCT Vessel, TCV Vessel, Multi Purpose Vessel, Survey Vessel with Multibeam Echo Sounder, Container Ship, Oil Tanker, Passenger Ship, Fishing Trawler, Dredger, Tug Boat, etc. Now the company is exporting vessels abroad after fulfilling the local demand.
The FMC Dockyard has so far built approximately 200 new vessels for various govt, autonomous and private organizations.
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