Joint venture drone factory with Turkey to be set up in Bogura: State minister

A joint venture drone manufacturing factory will be established in Bogura in collaboration with Turkey, alongside the district's planned Bangladesh Air Force base and the airport currently being upgraded to international standards, State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam said.

Speaking at the BSRF Dialogue at the Secretariat on Thursday (July 9), the state minister said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had announced the project during the parliamentary question-and-answer session yesterday.

"During the parliamentary question-and-answer session, the prime minister said that the joint venture drone factory or industry with Turkey will be built alongside the Bogura air base," he said.

Shahe Alam was speaking at the event organised by the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF), with its President Masudul Haque in the chair and General Secretary Ubaidullah Badol moderating.

He said there is currently no airport in northern Bangladesh that meets international standards and that the existing Bogura airport is being upgraded accordingly.

The government has also approved the country's first Bangladesh Air Force base in the northern region, where newly inducted fighter jets will be stationed, he added.

The state minister said the Bogura airport, built during the Pakistan era, is one of the country's oldest. Although development initiatives were undertaken during the administrations of former president Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, those efforts could not be sustained due to political reasons, he added.