Cancer care, food security and river shipping: three ministers in Dhaka
Published 29 October 2026 · 4 min read
Who was there
| Health | Sardar Md. Sakhawat Husain MP, Minister of Health and Family Welfare |
| Food | Afroza Khanam MP, Minister of Food |
| Shipping | Shaikh Rabiul Alam MP, Minister of Shipping |
| NordGulf Alliance | Alan Talib, CEO and Founder |
| Where and when | Dhaka, October 2026 |
| Discussed | Cancer care and small health projects, a silo compound for wheat and rice, refitting Nordic vessels for Bangladesh's rivers |
Some meetings stay with you long after the flight home. In Dhaka in October I had three of them, and it was a privilege to sit with each of these ministers.
Health
With Sardar Md. Sakhawat Husain MP, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, we spoke about cancer care. A country of around 180 million people still has far too few places to receive radiotherapy, and we explored how international investment could help build dedicated cancer hospitals.
We also talked about smaller projects that, at this scale, do enormous good. Three stayed with me.
A farmer who scratches his eye in the rice field can lose that eye to infection within days. A few pence of antibiotic ointment, given in time by a village health worker, prevents it.
A screening test that needs little more than a trained nurse and ordinary vinegar can find cervical cancer early, in a local health centre.
A handheld ultrasound scanner guided by AI lets a nurse check for a dangerous blood clot in minutes, without waiting for a specialist a day's journey away.
None of these needs a new building. Each needs funding, organisation and someone to carry it to scale.
Food
Afroza Khanam MP, Minister of Food, was kind enough to welcome us into her home. Her ministry is the pressure valve of the nation, keeping rice and wheat available for 180 million people through good harvests and bad.
I left with deep respect for her strength and integrity, and I look forward to working under her guidance on the silo compound for wheat and rice that we are developing in Bangladesh.
Shipping
With the Minister of Shipping, the conversation moved to the water. Scandinavia retires many vessels at thirteen or fourteen years old, though most still have long working lives ahead. Bangladesh has the yards and the skilled hands to refit them, and it is a land of hundreds of rivers. Bringing these vessels from Norway would grow its fleet, create work and strengthen the waterways that carry its people and goods.
Each of these needs a different partner: hospital operators and medical technology for health, storage and logistics for food, shipyards and vessel owners for shipping. What they share is the need for funding built to last, which is where Gulf capital and Nordic experience meet.
Beyond the corridor
I have built most of my working life around one corridor, between the Gulf and the Nordics, because it is the one I know. Stepping a little beyond it has given me something no fee could. Few people get to do work that might also change lives. I do not take that lightly.
If some part of what we do helps the people of Bangladesh, among the kindest and warmest people I have met, that is the legacy I would most like to carry.
Thank you to each minister, and thank you, Bangladesh, for taking me in so warmly. My thanks also to the Government of Bangladesh, the Prime Minister's Office and our partners, and above all to Kabir Ahmed Bhuiyan, who made this opportunity possible.