Letrah Activities in Bangladesh

By Manzurul Shareef

(E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Letrah International Corporation had been operating in Bangladesh as a leading US company for more than half a decade now with an outstanding performance in all the major sectors of the economy. The sheer drive of the Letrah leadership  made it possible for a US company  to cover so many diversified business areas within such a short span of time setting up a stepping stone for the inflow of  US product and  services into the  country.

The journey of Letrah in Bangladesh  began with the introduction of mobile health care coaches  in various NGOs and in the government organizations of the country. The results  were overwhelming  with enthusiasm from  department heads of these organization who made all the necessary effort to be able to operate the coaches. More than 15-20 coaches were marketed though shipment could not be  made as yet due to the cumbersome  nature of obtaining funding for these projects from sources such as the World bank, ADB  and USAID.

The operation gained momentum when the government and the business community realized that Letrah could virtually handle any project from concept to completion, may it be in the health sector or may it be integrating suppliers with the clients in the field of nuclear technology.  In the year 2006, letrah undertook a challenging project with the Bangladesh  Army in upgrading their ammunition factory initially set up by the Chinese government in the late 60’s. The Letrah Consortium was able to develop the project and made a significant impact on the officials and experts of the factory paving a way for Letrah’s access  in any defence related projects with an offer  which the government of Bangladesh would happily welcome.

Currently  Letrah is looking into a number of multi-billion dollar projects in Bangladesh ranging from setting up a urea fertilizer factory to the prospects of Letrah participation in the construction of a new airport facility and also possible participation in the design and construction of a 35km elevated expressway in and around the capital. The deep sea port at Chittagong is also a project that calls for experts  such as Letrah to give meaningful thought  and explore the  potential of the project.

Letrah is also working closely with the Bangladesh army welfare trust on a vaccine factory and a  international standard hospital that would change  the concept  of hospitals in Bangladesh as top ranking US hospitals have shown interest in advising and helping in proceeding with the project. The vaccine factory on the other hand will be one of it’s kind in the kindly with return on investments in billons of dollars . For more information  please visit our website at www.letrah.com

Letrah also worked  closely with the Bangladesh Tele-communication regulatory authority and the ministry of post and tele-communication on launching a communication satellite by  Bangladesh in the near future. The govt. is now awaiting an orbital slot allotment from the international tele-communication union (ITU)after which detailed studies and implementation of the project might  fall in the hands of letrah partners experts in the line. There are many other projects that letrah has worked for in Bangladesh and some them are listed below.

1. Introduction of Gunzilla gun oil in the Army, Navy , Airforce and the Bangladesh Rifles and police.
2. Introduction of Hemostat Superstat  to  the army medical hospitals
3. Potato processing plant
4. Egg processing plant
5. Tomato processing plant
6. Garment upgradation
7. Water treatment plant
8. Water purification units
9. Clean in place units
10. Nuclear medicine research
11. Power plants
12. Nuclear power plants
13. Feasibility study of avian flu containment and mobile response
14. Rapidly deployable shelter for the Bangladesh army
15. Printed circuit boards
16. Taps, dyes and cutting tools
17. Potato tuber project
18. PET/CT Cyclotron and Radio Chemistry lab for the Institute of Nuclear medicine

Letrah Disaster Management in Bangladesh

Letrah International Corporation has many tools to combat any kind of natural disasters. These include mobile disaster management coaches in form of trailer based custom designed  health care units that can move quickly to the disaster zones and treat the affected people. Letrah also has at it’s disposal water purification units that can purify contaminated water for drinking purpose a scenario that often emerge from devastating floods. In Bangladesh however Letrah worked and contributed in an effort to mitigate the suffering of flood and cyclone affected people  in a more discrete manner. At the aftermath of cyclone Sidr,Letrah’s concern to have all the necessary assistance for the affected came in the form of lobbying for adequate fund and direct aid at the World Bank,USAID and at many other donor agencies. The WB in the process pledged $250 million dollars for the affected thus making a substantial amount of funding for the affected people that helped them to get over the initial impact of the cyclone helped them to see some light of hope for rehabilitation. This only implied that Letrah’s intention and willingness to help and assist people in distress is based more on humanitarian ground rather than it’s own business benefit.

In the advent of  one of most feared virus of the century H5N1 and H1N1 Letrah worked worldwide to combat the disease in the form of offering studies and suggestions to various government departments along with funding opportunities to best handle the crisis. It prepared feasibility studies that gave an indepth analysis of the situation, and made recommendations to the governments to go to the  core of the problem and proposed a three  pillar response strategy to fight a possible pandemic  that  would save lives of millions of people around the world. In Bangladesh although the situation was not that  acute, but that did not stop Letrah to co-ordinate efforts with the WHO, FAO, the ministry of health and the ministry of livestock to be able to stay on top of any possible human pandemic or when the disease has the  potential to spread from human to human. As a result of their sincere and expert effort, many donor agencies such as the World Bank with a donation of $18 million to Bangladesh  from an aggregate of $485 million pledged worldwide  was the kind of funding the situation at the time urgently demanded.