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Published in The Daily Star on Friday, 11 April 2014.
Industrial strategies should focus on tech upgrade: analysts
Star Business Report
Bangladesh should focus on high-medium tech industries to formulate industrialisation strategies for the next decade, in order to achieve higher economic growth, said analysts.
“Industrial activities have largely been concentrated on a few domestic and export-oriented industries. But it is time to focus on tech based industries,” said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
Such a transformative journey will require a number of changes in technological capabilities, skills development, education and training, he said in a keynote presentation.
He spoke at a meeting on industrialisation strategies for the next decade, co-organised by the industries ministry and Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
He also identified corruption, poor infrastructure and inadequate supply of electricity and gas as major concerns for businesses.
Industrialisation is highly concentrated in one region, particularly in the east, mainly because of better access to all kinds of infrastructure, logistics and other facilities, said Moazzem.
The industrial policy needs to become the centre of industrial development, which is not possible because of its non-binding nature, he added.
Many factories are facing a gas crisis; some companies even have to run factories by acquiring gas from the CNG filling stations, said AK Azad, president of BCI.
He urged the government to set up the LNG (liquid natural gas) terminal as soon as possible. He also called upon the government to set up a coal-based electricity plant.
Farhad Uddin, additional industries secretary, called upon the business community to focus on proper management of industrial waste, skills development and productivity.
The country has failed to achieve the desired economic growth rate due to a lack of an enabling environment for businesses, referring to the high interest rate and political unrest, said Mahbubur Rahman, president of International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (ICCB).
Many factories are misusing power and gas at present, said AR Khan, chairman of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission. He stressed the need for efficient use of energy.
The government is setting up two gas compressors to improve the gas pressure and it is expected to be completed by this month, said Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy affairs adviser to the prime minister.
The government is also working to generate electricity by importing coals, he added.
The country should focus on developing import substitute industries, said Amir Hossain Amu, industries minister. “For this, we will provide all sorts of policy support.”