Our nation's progress over the last decade has been nothing short of impressive by any standards, especially when it comes to the many industries that we currently rely on to keep our economy afloat and the ones which we have yet to explore.
However, it is all but imperative that we make the appropriate foreign partnerships, ones that would allow us to transfer both the means and knowledge required to truly propel our industries to the future. To that end, we agree with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's plea to businessmen all over the nation to be more active in seeking out potential partnerships.
Limiting our local industries' partnerships with their foreign counterparts to mere trade and commerce is no longer enough for long-term growth. The key lies in the transfer of both skills and technology harnessed by our foreign partners, which is why any future industrial deals and partnerships should have mandatory clauses for such transfers at their very cores.
But that ultimately depends on Bangladesh becoming more attractive to foreign investors. To that end, the duty-free and quota-free access of Bangladeshi products to various foreign markets can be harnessed as a key selling point.
Our business leaders, along with the help of the administration, need to send out the message that Bangladesh is open for business. With increasing connectivity with the rest of the sub-continent and South East Asian nations, there is no scope for our industries to remain complacent and rest on its laurels.
Now is the time for aggressive expansion.
But that expansion cannot be achieved without the help of key partners willing to deal with the transfer of skills and technology. But given Bangladesh's enviable position in the global commercial arena, that should not be a tough sell.
