PM for expanding Halal Tourism at OIC ministers’ confce

tressing the importance of expanding ‘Halal Tourism’, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said her government is taking initiatives to increase infrastructural and recreational facilities in the country for tourists, reports UNB.
“We’re taking initiatives to expand infrastructural and recreational facilities for tourists. Besides, world-class facilities are also being made available in different parts of the country in the private sector,” she said.
The Prime Minister said this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the three-day 10th Session of the Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers (ICTM) of OIC at Sonargaon Hotel in the capital.
She said Islamic economy continues to grow and be operated by the Muslim community around the world due to the universal acceptability of Islamic products and services.
“It has huge potentials to develop faith-based Islamic products and services. These products and services have become popular even in non-Muslim communities,” Sheikh Hasina said.
She said OIC member-states need enhanced cooperation and partnerships both in public and private sectors to develop halal foods, Islamic finance, halal pharmaceuticals and cosmetics and Halal Tourism as these are among the growing sectors of the Islamic economy.

The Prime Minister stated the government has been enforcing many mega projects, inclusive of a 6.15-km Padma Bridge, to improve infrastructures and connectivity. The Padma Bridge will create overland connectivity between Dhaka and southern parts of the country, which includes the Sundarbans, she said.
Noting that construction of an worldwide airport in Cox’s Bazar, the traveller capital of Bangladesh, is underway, she said it will facilitate the tourists to fly without delay to Cox’s Bazar from any part of the world. “Cox’s Bazar is being connected with the aid of rail community also.”
Hasina stated tourism is the quickest growing zone appreciably contributing to the technology of foreign exchange and employment throughout the world. “… the conference bears a extremely good importance for future cooperation and coordination on a broader spectrum in the uplift of the tourism enterprise of the OIC member states.”
Mentioning that the refugee disaster has grow to be very acute throughout the globe creating limitless sufferings and distresses to the displaced people, she stated Bangladesh has been going through the disaster for years with the modern inflow of forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar.
“Out of the sense of humanity, we’ve furnished transient refuge to the Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh to break out atrocities in their homeland,” the Prime Minister said. She extended thanks and gratitude to the OIC and other global firms and nations for their outstanding assist to Bangladesh on the Rohingya problem and providing help for the displaced people. “In this respect, the multi-dimensional position of the OIC is commendable.”
Hasina saidthe relationship amongst the OIC member states need to be based totally on mutual trust, understanding and cooperation in the view of the modern international scenario.
She said the alternate of understanding and understanding in a number fields can help all of us improve their stage of standard.”I suppose tourism is one of the areas the place we have higher possibilities and potentials to work together.” The Prime Minister stated her government has given super importance to and emphasis on creating tourism in Bangladesh as an financial sector.
She said Bangladesh has lots of assets for growing tourism industry, together with the world’s longest unbroken seashore with the longestmarine drive, Cox’s Bazar, the world greatest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, which is also domestic to Bengal tigers, the daughter of the sea, Kuakata, and lots of green tea-gardens in the north-eastern phase of the country. The Prime Minister inaugurated the tenth ICTM, being held with the theme of ‘Promoting Regional Integration through Tourism’.
Bangladesh was once chosen as the Chairperson of the 10th ICTM for the next two years. The chairpersonship used to be handed to Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister AKM Shajahan Kamal at the inaugural function. The Niger Tourism Minister used to be the Chairperson of the ninth ICTM.