Business leaders yesterday sought assurance from political parties that there would be no recurrence of violence which took a heavy toll on the country’s trade as well as economy in the past.
They came up with the call at a meeting organised by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) where the trade body presented its course of action to boost trade. The meeting was held at the DCCI office in the capital.
“We do not want to see the return of political unrest and violence such as general strike and blockade as these hinder economic growth,” said Hossain Khaled who is the newly elected DCCI president.
“Private investment has been slow in 2014 as investors were repelled by political unrest and instability, the lack of infrastructural development, bureaucracy tangle, and unavailability of gas and electricity,” he said.
According to Khaled, the biggest challenge in 2015 will be enhancing investment in productive and service sectors. He said the non-friendly business policy of the government has been an obstacle to achieving the desired economic growth.
The DCCI president urged the government to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as wooing local investors by ensuring an environment conducive to business in order to reach the targets. “The GDP growth of the country is hovering around 6% but it should about 10%. The flow of the FDI is also slow, which was $1 billion this year whereas a violence-torn country like Pakistan enjoys around $7 billion in FDI annually,” said Khaled.
He said the DCCI would continue having dialogue with political parties with the aim of putting an end to destructive political programmes as these impede fresh investment and economic growth.
“Only traffic congestion causes the country to lose Tk27,000 crore every year and also wastes about 32 lakh working hours per day,” said Khaled.
The DCCI president urged to expedite the implementation of Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway project, observing that the delay had already led to losses of Tk10,000 crore.