30 May 2019 | The Daily Star
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Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina looks on as officials of Summit Corporation and JERA Asia shake
hands at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo yesterday when the two entities
signed a memorandum of understanding to initiate an energy
infrastructure project in Matarbari, Cox’s Bazar. Photo: Summit
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Summit Corporation and JERA Asia yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to initiate an energy infrastructure project at Matarbari in Cox’s Bazar involving an investment of more than $500 million.
The initial agreement was signed at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo in presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is now in Japan on an official visit, Summit Group said in a statement.
The project will provide impetus to Bangladesh’s trade by developing various terminals for cargo and primary fuel in Matarbari.
The project is expected to be functional within two years of signing an agreement between Summit, JERA Asia and the government of Bangladesh.
The project will have a capacity to handle 20 million tonnes of bulk cargo per annum.
In the statement, Muhammed Aziz Khan, chairman of Summit Group, said the project has the potential to save billions of dollars for Bangladesh for years by providing logistics and handling and maintaining the supply chain more efficiently.
JERA Asia CEO Toshiro Kudama said: “By signing this MoU, we would like to further accelerate the development of energy infrastructure projects in Bangladesh together.”
JERA will like to support Bangladesh with investment and state-of-the-art technologies and the company’s excellence in management, he said.
Faisal Khan, a director of Summit Group, and Kudama signed the initial agreement.
Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power and energy; Shahriar Alam, state minister for foreign affairs, Nojibur Rahman, principal secretary to the prime minister; Md Abul Kalam Azad, chairman of Moheshkhali-Matarbari Integrated Infrastructure Development Initiative, and Rabab Fatima, Bangladesh’s ambassador in Japan, were also present.
Summit Group is the largest infrastructure conglomerate in Bangladesh as well as the largest independent power producer.
In April, Summit LNG Terminal Co Ltd, a consortium of Summit and Japanese trading giant Mitsubishi, commissioned its floating storage and re-gasification unit, the second in Bangladesh, boosting the supply of much-needed gas for the country.
Tokyo-based JERA is an energy company with global reach that has strength in the entire energy supply chain, from participation in liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other fuel resource projects and fuel procurement, through fuel transportation to power generation.