As ICR looks at the Bangladeshi cement market, it speaks with Masud Khan, CEO of MI Cement, about the status of the domestic market, the company’s achievements to date and plans for the future.
ICR: What are the main factors that impact on Bangladesh’s (low) per capita cement consumption? Are poor distribution routes to rural areas a major factor?
Masud Khan (MK): Bangladesh has traditionally been an agrarian economy. There were very few industries following the country’s independence in 1971. People in rural areas lived in mud houses with thatched roofs and in cities multistoried construction was absent. In a nation without a real estate sector, cement demand remained fairly low with nearly all cement imported in bags from neighbouring countries.
