Published in The Daily Star on Monday, 19 February 2018
Policy support vital for ‘green growth’
Speakers tell discussion
Star Business Report
A lack of incentives and supportive policies is the major obstacle to developing “green growth” practices in the private sector, said speakers yesterday.
The government needs to formulate a green growth action plan for the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, they told an annual dissemination on the Economic Dialogue on Green Growth (EDGG) and Economic Dialogue on Inclusive Growth (EDIG).
The EDGG, EDIG and the Department for International Development (DFID) jointly organised the event at the Westin hotel in the capital.
There is no encouragement from the policy aspect to make the private sector proactive in establishing green factories, said Fazlul Hoque, managing director of apparel manufacturer Plummy Fashions.
He said the government formulated many rules with punitive measures for noncompliance with environmental issues but there is no incentive for compliant industrial units.
“We need policy intervention to incentivise the private sector for greening growth,” said Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
Becoming compliant with green growth policies and maintaining competitive costs in green growth are big issues for inclusive growth, he said.
He also focused on developing interlinked issues, including cooperation among ministries in implementing green growth policies.
“Time has come for green growth in Bangladesh and we now need to raise awareness and develop the capacity for green business practices,” he added.
Green growth is elaborately addressed in the government’s five-year plans and fiscal policy, said Shamsul Alam, member of General Economics Division of the Planning Commission.
He admitted that there was a minor problem regarding coordination among ministries about green growth. The government has a clear strategy about promoting green growth but the initiative needs to be implemented, he said.
Bushra Ferdous Khan, researcher of EDGG, gave a keynote presentation on “Governance for green growth in Bangladesh”.
She identified a lack of manpower, functional coordination among ministries and technical capacity as a major obstacle to green growth and suggested that the government formulate an inclusive green growth strategy.
M Abdul Mannan, state minister for finance and planning, attended the inaugural session of the daylong event as chief guest.