Shipping, Road Transport and Bridges, and Railways Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam said Mongla’s economy will undergo major change through an economic zone, an LNG station, power generation, a bridge and port-centred infrastructure. Speaking on August 16 at a civic reception organised by Mongla municipal BNP at the permanent port bus stand in Mongla, Bagerhat, he said work on the Mongla special economic zone would begin next October and could create jobs for about 60,000 people.

The minister said an LNG station would be built at Akram Point near Mongla Port, with gas transported to Mongla through an approximately 23-kilometre pipeline. He said there was also an initiative to use the gas for power generation. Ensuring gas supply, he added, could accelerate industrialisation, electricity production and port-based trade, potentially making Mongla an important industrial and commercial centre in the southwest.

Alam also cited plans for the country’s 10th Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge over the Mongla River, saying it would be implemented quickly. He said new jetties, cold storage facilities and industrial infrastructure were planned at Mongla Port. Local BNP leaders at the event pledged commitment to Mongla’s development, establishing people’s rights and strengthening the party’s organisational capacity.