BD inks deal with UK for aviation partnership, loan to buy Airbus aircraft

Dhaka: Bangladesh can now “get loan to buy aircraft from Airbus” following a joint communique signing with the United Kingdom on aviation partnership that took place in London on May 5.

Salman F Rahman, Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Private Industry and Investment, and Lord Dominic Johnson of Lainston CBE, Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade, signed the communique on behalf of the Bangladeshi and British governments respectively.

“This deal demonstrates the UK's commitment to strengthening Bangladesh’s aviation industry, in turn helping to create jobs in both countries,” Lord Dominic Johnson of Lainston CBE, Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade, shared on social media.

Bangladesh can get long-term credit facilities from the UK Export Finance scheme on easy terms for the purchase of aircraft from Airbus under the deal.

Through the new agreement, Bangladesh's trade and investment relations with the United Kingdom and the other European partners of Airbus are to be bolstered and Bangladesh's aviation industry to be more developed, as per a media statement.

After the signing ceremony, Salman F Rahman said, the move will pave way for a long term and effective relationship between Airbus and Biman Bangladesh Airlines.

The current relationship between Bangladesh, the UK, France, Germany and the European Union can be strengthened further through the initiative, he also expressed.

The Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Mohammad Tofazzel Hossain Miah and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Trade Envoy to Bangladesh Rushanara Ali MP were also present during the signing ceremony.

The deal took place while the Prime Minister visited London to attend King Charles’ coronation. She met Sunak in their first bilateral talks, and attended a reception hosted by King Charles and a meeting of Commonwealth leaders.