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Prime Minister Khaleda Zia asked private entrepreneurs from home and abroad Sunday to invest in the hospitality industry in Bangladesh and assured them of all government support, reports UNB.
She urged them to come forward to reap the advantage of an ever-expanding market potential of hotel business in the country.
The Prime Minister made the call inaugurating Radisson Water Garden Hotel Dhaka, a five-star hotel, on the Airport Road near Cantonment Rail Station.
She said Radisson Water Garden is a new entry into the list of five-star hotels in Bangladesh and believed this hotel would play an important role in catering to increasing number of foreign guests visiting Dhaka.
The Prime Minister also believed that this hotel would significantly contribute to flourishing country's tourism sector and attracting local and foreign entrepreneurs and investors.
The high-society hotel will open to public from February 11.
The eight-storeyed hotel with 206 rooms, including five suites, situated on more than seven acres of land, is owned by Sena Hotel Development Limited (SHDL) and managed by Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific.
SHDL was formed in 1995 by the joint-venture partners Bangladesh Army Welfare Trust and UK-based firm Associated Building Design Limited for building and operating hotels and other businesses in Bangladesh.
In 2000, the company was made a fully Bangladesh Enterprise of Army Welfare Trust (AWT) and Sena Kalyan Sangstha (SKS) with 80 per cent and 20 per cent shares respectively, according to the Radisson Hotel brochure.
The Radisson Water Garden Hotel is just five kilometres off Zia International Airport (ZIA) and adjacent to the diplomatic zone in the city's posh Gulshan-Baridhara-Banani enclave.
The hotel offers 30,000-square foot functional space, including Grand Ballroom, which is the city's largest ballroom measuring 9,900 square feet that can accommodate more than 1,180 guests in theatre style.
Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Moeen U Ahmed, who is the chairman of the board of directors of SHDL, Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific President Paul Kirwin and Vice Chairman of the board of directors of SHDL Army Adjutant General Major General Md Matiur Rahman also spoke at the inaugural function.
Ministers, diplomats, chiefs of Navy and Air Force, high civil and military officials and distinguished personalities attended the function.
Addressing the function, the Prime Minister expressed her happiness knowing that small contributions made by the members of Bangladesh Army from the money earned through participation in UN peacekeeping missions have been pooled together by the Sena Kalyan Trust for building this imposing five-star hotel.
The effort was supplemented through partial financing by the Sena Kalyan Sangstha as well as a few welfare-oriented projects.
Khaleda observed that this noble endeavour on the part of members of Bangladesh Army would remain as a worthy example for emulation by others.
"These initiatives are undoubtedly laudable that the funds generated from this hotel would be spent on welfare of the families of martyred, deceased, disabled and distressed army members, especially those who have retired, as well as assistance will be provided for their treatment and for the education of their children," she said.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia specially mentioned the two areas where Bangladesh has been acclaimed internationally - successful participation by the country's Armed Forces in the UN peacekeeping missions, and Bangladesh's innovative and pioneering role in worldwide expanding and flourishing micro-credit programmes for alleviation of poverty.
"It is a happy coincidence that I am opening the Radisson Water Garden Hotel this noon and would be attending the concluding function of the International Micro-credit Year in the evening today," she told the function.
Khaleda felt proud as her government has been involved in these two initiatives in a big way from their very inception and they are still rendering multifarious assistance for their advancement.
"I am optimistic that alongwith achieving business successes, this hotel would play a significant role in the economic development of Bangladesh by encouraging foreign investment," the Prime Minister observed.
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