Dhaka – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday opened the country’s first World Trade Centre (WTC) in Agrabad area of the port city of Chittagong, 300 kilometres southeast of Dhaka, aiming to make business much easier.
With the opening of the WTC in Chittagong, a member of World Trade Centers Association in New York, the port city moved forward to be an international standard city, materialising the dream of its nearly 30 million dwellers.Business leaders believe that WTC will help explore the huge tourism potential of Chittagong alongside brightening the country’s image.
The tallest building in Chittagong, equipped with all modern facilities, will also be a suitable mean to promote the country’s international trade and brand Bangladesh abroad.
The Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) constructed the 21-storey World Trade Centre, having three basements with parking lot for 400 vehicles, on 75 kathas of land in Agrabad Commercial Area spending Tk 200 crore.
According to the CCCI leaders, the WTC will have bank branches, exhibition halls, shopping mall, food court, conference rooms, health clubs, banquet halls, billiard rooms, snooker rooms, tennis courts and swimming pools in the building.
From the 10th to 20th floors remained booked for a five-star hotel with 240 rooms, and there will be a helipad on the rooftop.
The construction work on the WTC started in 2006 on a land beside the scenic ‘Agrabad Deba’ in the Agrabad commercial area.
Built with state of the art technologies, the WTC will also house, two swimming pools, an international-standard convention centre and one modern IT centre.
The CCCI has already joined the New York-based WTC and obtained its membership.- UNB
