New Secretariat at Agargaon's old trade fair ground, cabinet approval given

The Bangladesh Secretariat is set to be relocated to the old trade fair ground at Agargaon in the capital. Formal approval for this decision was given at a cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat on Sunday, it was informed after the meeting ended.

At a briefing after the meeting ended, Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani said the new Secretariat complex will be built with full government funding on 31 acres of land at the old trade fair ground. According to the plan, a target has been set to start official activities there by 2029.

According to the cabinet secretary, this initiative has been taken under the prime minister's direction to ensure a coordinated work environment of the government and to increase the pace of work. He said the calculations of what the project's overall cost will be are still ongoing.

The master plan for building the new Secretariat includes infrastructure with modern facilities. The proposed plan speaks of arrangements for parking a total of 3,800 cars including a basement, which has been presented as a large-scale initiative compared to the parking pressure of the current area.

The plan includes 14 administrative buildings of 12 storeys. Alongside, two mosques, a multipurpose hall, a cafeteria and a modern post office have also been proposed as part of the new complex.

To keep vehicular movement in the Agargaon area normal, the plan also includes building several underground roads and underpasses. If the new complex opens, traffic pressure in the area may increase — keeping that consideration in mind, these arrangements have been included, it was mentioned in the briefing.

The future use of the current Secretariat site was also discussed at the meeting. The cabinet secretary said the matter of relocating there institutions like various administrative offices or courts of Old Dhaka is under consideration, but a final decision on this will be determined later.

At the same meeting, as part of administrative reform, a decision was taken to change the name of the 'Mahila o Shishu Bishoyok Montronaloy' to the 'Nari o Shishu Bishoyok Montronaloy'. This decision to change the name was also on the cabinet's list of approvals.

The cabinet has given policy and final approval to the draft of the 'Special Solar Power Installation Ordinance, 2026' with the aim of strengthening the country's overall energy security. It was informed at the briefing that after legislative verification ends, the ordinance may be issued on Monday itself.

It was informed that in this new legal framework, in the reality of global conflict, to tackle the energy crisis, the opportunity has been kept to implement solar power projects in the long term in both opex and capex models in government and privately owned buildings.

The cabinet has also approved the proposal of Bangladesh's joining the 'Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade' to ensure the protection of public health and the environment in international trade.

As a result of joining this convention, an opportunity will be created to be informed in advance, in accordance with international standards, about the negative effects of harmful and toxic chemicals or pesticides and to take decisions considering the risk. Previously Bangladesh was outside this convention; from now on, an international monitoring framework will be effective in hazardous chemical imports, it was said in the briefing.

At the meeting, formal approval was also given to the main concept of the master plan of the National Parliament Building. It was informed that some necessary modern additions have been kept while maintaining the core ideology of the historic architectural style of world-famous architect Louis I. Kahn and in harmony with Kahn's formula. After the approval of the main concept, instructions have now been given to complete step by step the detailed technical designs including architecture, engineering structure, electricity and plumbing.

All in all, in one meeting, several big decisions received approval — the Secretariat relocation, the ministry name change, the solar power ordinance, joining the Rotterdam Convention and the Parliament Building master plan. Attention will now be on determining the cost of the new Secretariat complex, finalizing the design and taking the construction work forward in line with the 2029 target.