PM’s Japan Visit, Algeria Energy Deal and Media Reform: Zahed’s Briefing at a Glance

In a Nutshell

• Japan visit: Zahed said the two prime ministers had concluded their summit and delivered formal statements. Discussions included increasing investment in Bangladesh across several sectors and attracting more foreign direct investment. He said further details on the memorandums of understanding and agreements signed would become clearer later.
• Algeria energy deal: Zahed said Bangladesh and Algeria signed an MoU on October 20 to cooperate in the hydrocarbons sector. Under a government-to-government arrangement, Bangladesh will import LNG, LPG and other petroleum products from Algeria amid global energy supply uncertainty. He also cited difficulties in sourcing energy internationally and volatile oil prices as reasons for developing alternative supplies.
• Health database and food safety: He referred to the State Minister for Health Dr M A Muhit’s announcement of a national hackathon to develop an integrated health database for nearly 200 million people and introduce e-health cards. As for the Food Ministry, Zahed said that it is currently preparing registration rules for 16 categories of food businesses, including temporary roadside stalls selling snacks like pitha.
• Solar power: On solar power, he mentioned Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s plan to inaugurate the Solar Expo on November 3 and 4. Citing the State Minister for Energy’s figures, he said that Bangladesh expects to generate 3,000 to 4,000 megawatts of solar electricity before next summer. Zahed also cited growing public interest in rooftop panels, falling costs and taxes on solar installations being brought close to zero.
• IGP’s remarks: Responding to the Inspector General of Police’s comments about “crossfire” and journalists allegedly taking drug money - comments that drew criticism from TIB and others- Zahed said Police Headquarters had issued a clarification. He said the IGP had not meant to suggest extrajudicial killings would be carried out and that his remarks had been miscommunicated.
• Media reform: Zahed said the government would consider the Media Reform Commission’s recommendations, including limits on media ownership, but was not committed to implementing them verbatim. It would develop its own media policy. He also rejected claims that the new constitutional reform committee was duplicating the earlier consensus commission’s work, saying parliamentary discussions and opposition participation remained necessary.
• Extremist violence: Zahed said those accused in the Tongi incident and the Satkhira case, where a person was beaten to death, had been arrested. He said the government would act against people violating the law.
• Others: Among other issues, Zahed reported that police recovered 50 firearms, 353 rounds of ammunition, and 685,748 yaba pills, alongside 1kg 921g of heroin and 207,751 bottles of phensedyl, between October 11 and 17. From October 18 to 24, police recovered another 31 firearms and around 955,000 yaba pills.
• He also discussed fish conservation, workplace daycare facilities, the revised ADP allocation of Tk 308,925 crore for 1,172 projects, and record Durga Puja celebrations with increased government grants, rice allocations and holidays.
• Other questions covered the treatment of bodies and graves linked to the Liberation War, recovery of looted weapons and the Right to Information Act, and a possible consultative channel on Puja. Zahed said he lacked updated information on weapons recovery and urged journalists to seek official information through the relevant agencies or the Information Commission.