DHAKA, April 28, 2019 (BSS) – State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali today urged the banking sector to provide soft loan support the young entrepreneur for flourishing the country’s tourism industry.
“Banks can provide soft loan to those young entrepreneurs who intend to start tourism related business,” he said while addressing a seminar here.
Dhaka University’s Tourism and Hospitality Management Department organised the seminar titled “Developing Tourism & Hospitality Industry in Bangladesh: Scoping the role of banking and financing institutions” on its campus here.
The state minister urged the banks to provide long-term loan facilities to private sectors for building tourism infrastructures at different potential but untapped tourism spouts across the country.
“The banks can provide travel loans to local tourists so that travellers can pay it back by instalments after coming back from their travel,” he observed.
Mahbub also suggested easing the issuing process of travellers’ cheques and travel credit cards to encourage people more into tourism. “The insurance companies can initiate travel insurance for the local tourists,” he added.
He also urged the banks to provide scholarships to the hospitality and tourism students for conducting research work under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme.
Tourism and Hospitality Management Department’s chairman Professor M Bodruzzaman Bhuiyan presided over the seminar while assistant professor Shoeb-ur-Rahman presented the keynote paper.
DU’s business faculty dean processor Shibly Rubayath-ul-Islam, Rupali Bank Managing Director M Ataur Rahman and Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) Chairman professor Mujib Uddin Ahmed spoke, among others.