State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit today said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman sought energy cooperation during a telephone conversation with his Malaysian counterpart. 

“Prime Minister Tarique Rahman spoke with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at 2:00 pm Bangladesh time after sending him a letter on Monday seeking energy cooperation,” he said.

Talking to reporters at his office, Amit said following the telephone conversation, the Malaysian premier assured his Bangladesh counterpart of supporting energy cooperation after consulting relevant authorities in his country.

“The letter was handed over to Malaysian premier today by our Prime Minister's adviser on education, primary and mass education Mahdi Amin,” he said. 

Considering people’s suffering, the government has been working round the clock to address the ongoing energy challenges, the state minister said.

“I feel it is necessary to convey this message to all as the government realized people’s hardship due to energy crisis. Our concern about resolving the crisis,” he said.

Amit said people entrusted the government with the responsibility of easing their hardships, prompting the ministry to work tirelessly to resolve the situation.

He said that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is also maintaining constant communication with the ministry over the developments.

Bangladesh is currently unable to supply gas in line with the existing demand, prompting the government to seek international cooperation to mitigate demand and supply gap, he added.

"We are not able to supply gas according to the demand. Therefore, to minimise the gap between demand and supply, the Prime Minister has sought the assistance of the Malaysian Prime Minister," Amit said.

Replying to a question, he said the government is working to secure opportunities for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Malaysia.

"We are trying to complete the process as quickly as possible. We are also exploring whether there are any alternative approaches through which Malaysia can assist us with its experience, provide technical advice, or share its resources with us. All these options remain open," he said.

The state minister said the government is working to resolve the ongoing gas supply crisis by exploring multiple energy sources to reduce dependence on any single option.

He said the government can manage the situation through another sources, adding, “The reason we are suffering today is that we don’t have enough alternatives, and everyone faced problem due to technical fault of a FSRU (floating storage and regasification unit),” he said.

Amit said a Japanese delegation, including an adviser to the Japanese prime minister, recently visited Bangladesh to discuss expanding bilateral energy cooperation.

“We discussed thoroughly on how we can strengthen energy cooperation. As we mentioned yesterday, we are working on FSRUs, but the ultimate solution is a land-based LNG terminal. We have sought Japan’s cooperation in this regard,” he said.