The lack of infrastructural facilities – which is a by-product of bureaucratic tangles – was one of the major barriers to the industrialisation of the country, speakers at a programme said yesterday.
They also observed that the complexity of getting bank loans, insufficient road and rail services, political instability and lack of proper planning were some of the other barriers for the development of business in the country.
The observations were made at a programme titled “Infrastructure – The Road to Chittagong & Beyond” held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, organised by garment manufacturers’ apex body BGMEA on the occasion of the first Dhaka Apparel Summit.
Toufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy adviser to the prime minister, said the government was thinking about importing gas from Myanmar to meet the demand of garment factories, as part of the need to double the country’s power generation for providing electricity to everyone.
Terming the incumbent government a “qualitative one,” Toufiq said: “We have fixed our goals. In the ready-made garments sector, our plan is to achieve $50bn business target, and it is possible by 2021.”
He said the government was planning to set up a deep-sea port for the betterment of trade, adding that it has also set a target to become a middle-income country by 2021.
Also speaking at the programme, BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan claimed that it was possible to achieve the export target if the bureaucratic tangles were removed.
“Achieving the export target is not a challenge, the challenge is resources. We have to develop infrastructures and resolve bureaucratic tangles to achieve export target,” he said.
Moyeen Khan, also a former minister, said policymakers repeatedly talked about progress of the six-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway, but the much expected highway was yet to be completed.
“Among the six lanes, four lanes are yet to be completed. If this continues then it might take seven more years to complete the expected six lanes.”
Former US ambassador James F Moriarty, also a board member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, said industries should ensure safe workplace and workers’ rights to achieve the vision of reaching the $50bn business target.
SM Fazlul haque, former president of BGMEA, said political stability was needed to achieve the vision of $50bn by 2021.
Mikio Hataeda, chief representative of JICA, said the Japanese organisation has identified a few sites and conducted feasibility study to support the establishment of a special economic zone and some road and rail infrastructure.
World Bank’s lead economist in Bangladesh, Dr Zahid Hussain, said: “We need minimum $74bn and maximum $100bn to develop the infrastructure in the south Asian region.”
Zaidi Sattar, chairman of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), said energy, transport and port were crucial elements to maintain the export growth.
The programme was presided by BGMEA representative Asif Ibrahim, who called for taking effective steps to expedite the implementation of the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway project and ensuring upgrades and regular maintenance of the existing roads for smooth transportation of RMG products.
