Port deal only when national interests protected: Ashik

Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud bin Harun has said a deal to lease the Chittagong Port's New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to a foreign company will be signed only when the country's interests are protected.

He made the remarks while speaking to reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Cabinet Division on Tuesday, February 24.

When asked what this government's stance on the deal is, as the interim government backed it, he replied, "Whether the interim government was in favour or against the treaty, it is not the matter." 

"We will only sign the agreement if the national interests are protected, as has been said during the interim government, and I think the current government will take the same position," Ashik Chowdhury noted. 

"Today we briefed him (prime minister), he did not brief us. He just listened and gave some primary directions," he added.

MAS/MSU