The two new initiatives contribute greatly to the diversification of the economy and productively utilising our natural resources. In this day and age, especially with the MFA taking effect next year, which is expected to hurt the ready-made garment export industry, it is crucial that we continue to explore all options to diversify the economy and open up as many profitable new sectors as possible. The full utilisation of whatever natural resources we have under our control in order to advance development is simple common sense and sound economic policy.

The Barapukuria Coal Mine project will mainly supply power for the 250 megawatt Barapukuria Power Plant which will help alleviate the energy shortfall in the country. The Maddhyapara Hard Rock project will produce 1.6 million tonnes of granite a year that will go a long way to fulfilling our domestic needs of 3.4 million tonnes, thereby saving between an estimated $38 million and $58 million in foreign exchange reserves. Significantly, both projects are located in the underserved northern region of the country and are expected to have a positive effect on the depressed regional economy.

In today's competitive global economy, we must always be looking for opportunities to develop the nation's economy and move it forward. We cannot afford to rest on the considerable gains that we made through the nineties and the early years of this century. Bangladesh's entry into the mining era is long overdue, but an absolute necessity if we are to maintain our global competitiveness and not fall behind. These are the kinds of bold and far-reaching initiatives that the government needs to sponsor, and we applaud their efforts to get the initiatives off the ground and operational.