Saudi Arabia to invest in reopening of closed jute mills

Saudi Arabia has expressed keen interest to invest in the reopening of closed jute mills owned by Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation.

Textiles and Jute Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi came up with the disclosure after a meeting with Saudi Ambassador Issa bin Youssef Al-Duhailan at his secretariat office on Wednesday.

“As Saudi Arabia considers Bangladesh as a friendly country, we are interested in investment in the Bangladeshi jute sector,” said the minister quoting the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Bangladesh.

In this regard, Golam Dastagir Gazi also mentioned that Bangladesh also strongly believes that Saudi Arabia is also our true friend.

“We expect that Saudi Arabia will invest more for the expansion of textile as well as the jute sector,” Golam Dastagir Gazi told the ambassador.at the meeting.
The minister also informed the Saudi envoy that Bangladesh is producing world class quality jute and jute goods, saying “Jute is a fully environment friendly agricultural product while the people of Saudi Arabia are also very much conscious about the environment.”

“We export jute and jute goods to various countries including Saudi Arabia and we want to export more to the kingdom because of the increased demand for jute products,” said the minister.

The government on July 2 decided to shut and suspend the production of state-owned 25 jute mills in order to modernize those mills as those mills were incurring huge losses while run by BJMC.

In April 2021, BJMC called for international tender for 17 jute mills and Twenty-four companies vied for the lease of 14 out of 17 mills put on tender.