RAK Ceramics Group CEO Abdallah Massaad Visits Bangladesh to Strengthen Industry Ties

Dhaka, July 25, 2026 — Abdallah Massaad, Group Chief Executive Officer of RAK Ceramics — one of the world's largest ceramics manufacturers headquartered in the United Arab Emirates — is visiting Bangladesh to strengthen industry ties and reinforce the strategic importance of the Bangladesh market within the global RAK Ceramics network. The visit underscores Bangladesh's growing significance as a manufacturing and investment destination for multinational ceramics companies. 🇧🇩

🤝 Massaad is accompanied by Manoj Aheeray, Director of RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited and a senior leader of the RAK Ceramics Group, the company said in a press release. The high-level visit reflects the group's commitment to deepening its engagement with Bangladesh's construction and architectural sectors at a time when the country's building materials industry is experiencing significant demand growth.

📊 Visit Agenda and Stakeholder Engagements

💼 During the visit, Massaad will meet with leading architects, developers, dealers, business partners, and the leadership team of RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited. The discussions will focus on innovation, design, and opportunities for stronger industry collaboration — signalling the group's intention to deepen its integration with Bangladesh's construction ecosystem rather than simply maintaining its existing operational footprint.

👥 The breadth of stakeholder engagements planned during the visit reflects the multifaceted nature of RAK Ceramics' Bangladesh operations, which span manufacturing, distribution, design partnership, and architectural specification. The engagement with architects and developers is particularly significant, as these professionals play a decisive role in specifying building materials for both residential and commercial construction projects across Bangladesh.

💡 Strategic Vision and Growth Drivers

📜 Massaad will also address the company's employees and outline the group's strategic vision during the visit. His address will highlight several key drivers of future growth for RAK Ceramics' Bangladesh operations:

• 👥 Customer-focused innovation — developing products that address specific Bangladesh market needs
• ⚙️ Operational excellence — improving manufacturing efficiency and quality standards
• 💻 Digital transformation — integrating digital tools across operations, sales, and customer service
• 🌿 Sustainability — aligning with global environmental standards and green building requirements
• 🏭 Manufacturing leadership — maintaining RAK's position as a top-tier ceramics manufacturer

📊 The emphasis on these five strategic pillars reflects RAK Ceramics Group's broader global strategy of competing on innovation, quality, and sustainability rather than purely on price — a positioning that aligns well with Bangladesh's growing middle-class market and the increasing sophistication of the country's construction industry.

🤝 Bangladesh CEO's Perspective

🏢 Khourshed Alam, Chief Executive Officer of RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited, said Massaad's visit reflected the strategic importance of Bangladesh to the RAK Ceramics Group's global operations. The Bangladesh CEO's welcoming remarks framed the visit as both a recognition of past success and a signal of future commitment:

"We are honoured to welcome Abdallah Massaad to Bangladesh. His visit reflects the strategic importance of the Bangladesh market within the RAK Ceramics Group and reinforces our commitment to innovation, quality and customer excellence."

🤝 Alam further emphasised the collaborative dimension of the visit, highlighting the company's ambition to deepen partnerships across Bangladesh's construction value chain:

"We look forward to further strengthening our collaboration with architects, developers, dealers and business partners while supporting the sustainable growth of Bangladesh's construction industry."

🏭 RAK Ceramics' Bangladesh Operations

📊 RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited is a subsidiary of the UAE-based RAK Ceramics Group and is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). The company operates a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Bangladesh and is one of the country's leading producers of ceramic tiles, sanitaryware, and related building materials. The company's products are widely used in residential, commercial, and institutional construction projects across Bangladesh.

💼 The presence of a global ceramics major like RAK Ceramics in Bangladesh reflects the country's growing attractiveness as a manufacturing base for multinational building materials companies. Bangladesh offers several competitive advantages for ceramics manufacturing:

• 👥 Competitive labour costs — lower than regional peers
• 🏢 Growing domestic market — rapid urbanisation driving construction demand
• 🌐 Export potential — duty-free access to several markets under LDC preferences
• 📱 Skilled workforce — established ceramics manufacturing tradition
• 🚢 Logistics connectivity — access to Chattogram Port for export shipments

📈 Bangladesh Construction Industry Context

🏗️ Bangladesh's construction industry has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy over the past decade, driven by rapid urbanisation, rising middle-class incomes, and major public infrastructure investments. The sector encompasses residential housing, commercial real estate, industrial construction, and large-scale public works projects — all of which generate substantial demand for building materials including ceramic tiles, sanitaryware, and fittings.

📊 The construction industry's growth has created a significant market opportunity for both domestic and international ceramics manufacturers operating in Bangladesh. RAK Ceramics has been positioning itself to capture a meaningful share of this growing market by combining global design expertise with local manufacturing capabilities and distribution networks.

🌏 Group's Strategic Importance of Bangladesh

🇧🇩 The company said Bangladesh remained an important market for the RAK Ceramics Group, with RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited set to continue investing in product innovation, advanced manufacturing, and customer-focused solutions while contributing to the country's construction and architectural sectors. This commitment reflects the broader trend of multinational companies recognising Bangladesh's potential as both a manufacturing hub and a growing consumer market.

📊 For RAK Ceramics Group, Bangladesh represents one of the company's most important manufacturing and market positions outside the Middle East. The country's combination of a large domestic market, growing construction sector, and competitive manufacturing base makes it a strategically valuable location for global building materials companies seeking to expand their Asian footprint.

💰 Investment and Job Creation

🏭 RAK Ceramics' Bangladesh operations represent a significant foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country's manufacturing sector. The company's manufacturing facility employs hundreds of Bangladeshi workers and contributes to the development of domestic ceramics manufacturing expertise. The company's continued investment in advanced manufacturing technology and product innovation reflects a long-term commitment to the Bangladesh market.

📊 The visit by the Group CEO also sends a positive signal to other potential foreign investors considering Bangladesh as a manufacturing base. The fact that a global industry leader like RAK Ceramics is not only maintaining but deepening its Bangladesh engagement demonstrates that the country remains an attractive destination for multinational manufacturing investment — despite the broader macroeconomic challenges that have been highlighted by international ratings agencies in recent months.

🚢 Broader Trade Relations with UAE

🇦🇪 The visit also reinforces the broader trade and investment relationship between Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is one of Bangladesh's most important trading partners in the Middle East, with significant Bangladeshi expatriate workers based in the Emirates and growing bilateral trade in goods and services. Investment flows from UAE-based companies like RAK Ceramics contribute to the diversification of Bangladesh's sources of foreign direct investment.

📊 For Bangladesh's policymakers, the RAK Ceramics Group CEO's visit serves as a timely reminder that despite the macroeconomic headwinds, the country continues to attract meaningful interest from multinational manufacturers. Sustaining this interest will depend on maintaining policy stability, addressing infrastructure and energy challenges, and continuing to improve the ease of doing business — all of which are priorities that the new BNP-led government has emphasised in its early months in office.

📈 Looking Ahead

🌏 As Massaad's visit progresses and the strategic discussions translate into concrete initiatives, RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited is expected to announce specific investment and product development plans in the coming months. For Bangladesh's construction industry, architects, developers, and consumers, the deepening engagement of a global ceramics leader like RAK represents access to world-class products and design expertise — contributing to the continued modernisation and quality upgrading of the country's built environment.

📊 The visit also highlights the broader strategic narrative of Bangladesh's emergence as a manufacturing destination of choice for global companies seeking to diversify their Asian production footprints. As multinational companies across industries evaluate their supply chain strategies in the wake of global trade uncertainties, Bangladesh's combination of competitive costs, growing market, and improving business environment positions it favourably for continued FDI inflows in the coming years.