Bangladesh Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said the country may take about two years to build the infrastructure needed to address its gas shortage. Speaking in Sylhet on August 15 after a workshop, he said conditions would become largely normal within the next two years once the required infrastructure is completed. He described the hardship facing industrial factories because of gas shortages as a long-standing inherited problem.

Muktadir said resolving the crisis requires increasing the capacity for gas imports and supply infrastructure. He said initiatives are being taken to raise liquefied natural gas imports. According to the minister, the coming two years are important for the industrial sector, and the government is also examining whether solutions beyond emergency and conventional arrangements can be used.

He cited a possible initiative involving Malaysia’s state energy company Petronas, under which LNG could be brought on large vessels and transferred at sea to smaller ships to increase supplies. The remarks followed a workshop on preparing district-level annual work plans for fiscal year 2026-27 and evaluating the previous year’s implementation under an agricultural development project using modern technology. Agricultural Department officials at different levels attended.