DHAKA: Bangladesh is preparing to set up a fertilizer plant in Saudi Arabia, its trade ministry said on Thursday, as the South Asian nation seeks to meet domestic demand amid a crisis in global supply.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 exacerbated a global fertilizer shortage, boosting prices to all-time highs. The price hikes have already affected Bangladesh’s agriculture sector, threatening the country’s food security.
Talks on the establishment of a diammonium phosphate fertilizer plant in Saudi Arabia began last year, and on Wednesday a memorandum for a feasibility study was signed by the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation and Hanwha Saudi Contracting Company.
The agreement was inked in a virtual meeting organized by the Bangladeshi Ministry of Industry and the country’s embassy in Riyadh, which said in a statement that it was the first Bangladeshi government initiative to set up an industrial plant on foreign soil.
“We estimate that it may take around six months for the completion of the feasibility study. Once we receive the positive report in the feasibility study, our government will start the agreement negotiations with the Kingdom’s authorities. Usually, it takes two-three years for a factory like this to start production,” Sharif Md. Mashud, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Industries in Dhaka, told Arab News.
The plant, co-owned by the countries, will help meet demand for the fertilizer in Bangladesh, which needs 1.6 million tons of DAP a year to fuel its agriculture sector.
The production volume of the Saudi-based plant will be established after the feasibility study.
“We have chosen Saudi Arabia for the fertilizer factory since the country has a huge supply of raw materials and they also have sufficient capital to invest. We are yet to fix the production capacity of this fertilizer factory,” Mashud said.
“Primarily, we plan to meet our local demand from this factory’s production. We import fertilizer regularly from different countries. The establishment of this factory would enable us to secure fertilizer imports for farmers.”
Bangladesh used to meet over 70 percent of its DAP demand from domestic production, but the figure has fallen in recent years.
“Now, the production volume has come down to 30 percent. Many of our local fertilizer factories are not functioning at full capacity,” Jahangir Alam, agricultural economist and former vice-chancellor of the University of Global Village in Barisal, told Arab News.
Sourcing fertilizer from different countries has become difficult, he said.
“If we can establish a joint venture fertilizer factory, our farmers will benefit a lot. The supply channel will be smooth, and it will check the increase of fertilizer prices during the peak demand season.”
Bangladesh seeks to produce fertilizer in Saudi Arabia amid dwindling supply
https://arab.news/ctufa
Bangladesh seeks to produce fertilizer in Saudi Arabia amid dwindling supply
- South Asian nation signs feasibility study agreement with Hanwha Saudi Contracting Company
- Bangladesh needs 1.6 million tons of DAP a year to fuel its agriculture sector
Millions of Indian girls out of school as efforts to keep them enrolled falter
- Government data shows 6.57 million Indian children dropped out from school between 2019 and 2025
- For girls, main reasons are child marriage, family migration and inadequate infrastructure, experts say
NEW DELHI: Priyanka Sau was sure that after completing secondary school she would enroll in a computer course in her hometown in Uttar Pradesh.
But neither the course nor her graduation could materialize as two years ago her father lost his job at a brick kiln and the family moved to Delhi in search of work. The 15-year-old now works as a cleaner in a housing complex, supplementing her parents’ income and helping support her three younger sisters.
Her marriage arrangement has been finalized, too.
“Very soon it will be formalized,” she told Arab News.
“For me, there was no option but to follow my parents to Delhi and start earning to make a living ... I miss my school and dream to enroll in a computer course to get modern skills.”
Priyanka is one of the 6.57 million Indian children who dropped out from school between 2019 and 2025, according to data presented in parliament in December by Women and Child Development Minister Savitri Thakur.
Nearly 3 million of the whole dropout group were adolescent girls, with the highest rates recorded in the most populous states. In Uttar Pradesh, girls accounted for more than half of nearly 100,000 school dropouts in the 2025–26 academic year alone.
Dr. Kriti Bharati, founder of Saarthi Trust, which works for child rights and rescues victims of child marriage, said the government data was “alarming” and required immediate intervention.
“The education department should go deep into it. They should find out where these thousands of girls who dropped out have gone ... The schoolteachers, when they come to know that some girls or kids have dropped, they should find out why they are dropping out. This is their social responsibility,” she said.
“A developed society is called developed not because it has better roads or it can send missions to the moon. It has to ensure education for its people, it has to ensure proper care for its poor citizens.”
The government data showed that social protection systems were failing to adapt to local realities, as dropout rates rise due to pressures such as domestic responsibilities, work, early marriage and poverty.
According to Dr. Bharati, the main reasons forcing girls to leave school were child marriage and labor migration, which has increased since the COVID pandemic.
“Poor people move from one place to another. After COVID, many things have changed as far as jobs are concerned. People are moving for jobs outside their villages,” she said.
“The third reason is child labor — these girls become a source of income for their family. They supplement the income.”
For Dr. Purujit Praharaj, director of India Child Protection, the main reasons enabling the increase in dropout rates, especially among girls, were systemic: inadequate infrastructure and legal guarantees.
The Right to Education Act makes free and compulsory education a fundamental right only for children aged 6 to 14, while access-wise, secondary schools in rural areas are often far, especially in India’s poorer, eastern states.
“All girls below 18 should be given free and compulsory education and proper infrastructure. If the schools are not located nearby, then hostel facilities should be provided,” Dr. Praharaj said.
“There is a safety issue and concern among the parents to send their girls to a different location to school ... Residential schools need to be built for these girls so that they can go there. If you can ensure continuous education for them, girls will not get married before 18.”
