Bangladesh plans to set up a tourism zones including casinos to boost tourism development, according to local media reports.
The resorts would be reserved exclusively for foreigners, with the first likely to be situated in Cox’s Bazar, media cited State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md Mohibul Haque as saying.
The minister was speaking at a press conference, organized to brief the media on the World Tourism Day programs for September 27.
Bangladesh’s population is around 90% Muslim, a religion that takes a particularly dim view of gambling. But Haque noted that Malaysia is also a Muslim country that offers foreign tourists the opportunity to access casino gambling at the Genting Highlands resort.
Mohibul said the casinos were needed for the foreign tourists. “Malaysia has casinos where tourists enter after showing their passports.”
“We are not providing such facilities to them [foreign tourists] at the moment. We will build an exclusive tourist zone where these facilities will be available for the foreigners,” he added.
He said the government would also set up such zones in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira, centring the Sundarbans and targeting foreign tourists.
Source: GMB
