Terming the present government a pro-business and pro-investment one, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said it wants to leave no stone unturned for the sake of the county’s rapid economic progress.
“For the sake of the country’s rapid economic development, we want to utilise all the scopes. We will go all the way – public, private, public-private partnership or government-to-government one – whichever is best for us,” she said during the inaugural ceremony of the development activities of 10 economic zones held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC), aiming to boost both foreign and domestic investments in the country.
The economic zones are: Mirsarai Economic Zone, Sabrang Tourism Park, Srihatta Economic Zone, Mongla Economic Zone, AK Khan Economic Zone, Abdul Monem Economic Zone, Meghna Economic Zone, Meghna Industrial Economic Zone, Bay Economic Zone and Amra Economic Zone.
The prime minister said the government wants to create an excellent investment environment in the country as it is a pro-business and pro-investment one. “We don’t want to do business as we actually want to create scopes for businessmen to do business,” she was quoted by UNB.
She mentioned that the government enacted a number of investment-friendly laws to attract more investors from home and abroad. “We want to see a greater competition among investors,” she said.
Hasina also noted that the government has already introduced one-stop service to ensure a hassle-free environment for the investors. “For the convenience of businessmen, we are going to merge the Board of Investment and Privatisation Commission. We will enact a law in this regard.”
Observing that Bangladesh has limited cultivable land, the prime minister said the industrialisation should be done in a planned way. “We have to ensure the food security of the country’s 16 crore people and we have to save our environment, too.”
The prime minister laid emphasis on setting up industries based on a zoning system. “In our country, we produce different items in different places, so our industrialisation should be based on that.”
Attaching more importance to saving the environment, she said: “You should keep in mind that there should not be any adverse effect on the environment due to the industrialisation. That means, waste should not travel to rivers and land and there should be a waste management system.”
Noting that Bangladesh has a huge domestic market of 16 crore people, she said if the country’s per capita income increases, it would help businessmen to get a significant number of consumers in the domestic market. “If you want to flourish the industrialisation, you have to improve the per capita income.”
Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu and Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal addressed the function as special guests while Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain spoke from Mirersarai Economic Zone through videoconferencing.
