Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: A trip to Bangladesh comes with a lot of surprises. With the highest population density in the world – Capital Dhaka alone being home to 17 million, Bangladesh houses 166 million people.
The roads of the country are abuzz with movement and sounds of the cars, cyclists and autorickshaws ‘Tuk Tuk’ as well as pedestrians, cyclists and hawkers.
Our journalist Jassim Al-Badaai travelled to Bangladesh on an official media visit organised by their Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He met the Bangladeshi Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud and the Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.
As an initiative to introduce the country’s history and recent development to the outside world, the tour facilitated visits to not just tourist spots and museums but also to the textile industries and the Rohingya refugee camp. Our reporter also visited the Bangladesh Founder Memorial Museum , the University of Dhaka, the National Museum and the Liberation War Museum.
The visit brought an opportunity to interact with a media channels like Live News 24. Also, it gave our reporter a first hand experience of their military prowess as displayed during the parade on Victory Day, December 16.
Social Life
Life in Bangladesh is simple and Muslims make up 90% of the total population.
Football is a big passion for the Bangladeshis. The FIFA finale saw an outpouring of people on streets to celebrate Argentina’s victory.
Impressive economic growth
Bangladesh has witnessed remarkable economic growth over the past years. It depends for its income on water-intensive sectors like agriculture, fish and industries such as textiles, clothing, shoes and ceramics.
External remittances by Bangladeshi expats play an important role towards the national income. The local economy is trying to recover in the face of the challenges posed by Corona pandemic and the influx of Rohingya refugees, and the rise in food prices due to the war in Ukraine.
Scenic Beauty
Bangladesh is characterized by its picturesque nature in the countryside due to the abundance of water.
Cox's Bazar beach is located in the Bay of Bengal in south-eastern Bangladesh. It is the longest beach in the world with a length of 120 km. The beach is called one of the new Seven Wonders of the World and is considered the number one tourist destination in Bangladesh and among the best beach tourist destinations in Asia.
Industry
The Beximco industrial park in Bangladesh has industrial factories in which textiles of all kinds are manufactured as well as ceramics of various kinds and exported to various countries of the world.
Rohingya Refugee Camp
Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh is home to the largest refugee camp in the world, with 33 camps housing about 1,100,000 people of Rohingya community. It was established by the Government of Bangladesh with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
UNHCR is making many efforts to provide basic services such as health care, nutrition and children's education, and the camp contains a textile workshop where women work to provide income for the family.
The camps also have schools so that the children aren’t deprived of their future due to displacement. Our reporter spoke with a child who said he wants to study hard to become a doctor.
Life in Bangladesh is not easy but people’s eyes are full of hope for a better future.
