Bangladesh and Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday to expand cooperation in the energy sector.
The areas of cooperation include the possibility of Indonesia supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the South Asian country.
“This MoU is based on the good relations between Indonesia and Bangladesh. Both will work together in the energy sector, particularly through [state-owned oil and gas firm] Pertamina and possibly other companies that will support Bangladesh with LNG supply,” Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said following the signing ceremony at the ministry.
In the past few years, Indonesia has produced some LNG cargo that could not be absorbed domestically.
Bangladesh’s Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Nasrul Hamid said the agreement came at the right time as the country needed a significant amount of LNG in order to support its power sector and feed its domestic industry.
“Bangladesh is going hungry for energy day by day,” he said.
Bangladesh is home to more than 160 million people. It is set to sign a 15-year deal to buy LNG from RasGas Co. of Qatar next year, Reuters reports.