Business leaders demand adequate energy

Business leaders yesterday reiterated the need for an adequate supply of gas and power and a stable political environment for smooth business operations.

They also demanded that the government speed up efforts to expand the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to four lanes to reduce traffic congestion that delays transportation of exports.

The highway is a lifeline for the export and import businesses in the country, and the government's construction work on expansion has been going on for many years now.

“If we cannot remove these internal trade barriers, we will not be able to graduate to a middle income country by 2021,” Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said at a meeting of the business advisory committee at the Export Promotion Bureau office in Dhaka. Tofail Ahmed, commerce minister, presided over the meeting.

The commerce ministry formed the committee comprising members from different sectors to remove trade barriers.

Recently, the businessmen have been facing problems in shifting gas pipelines from Dhaka to other places due to bureaucratic problems, Islam said.

Many factories have already been shifted from Dhaka to neighbouring areas, but the government has barred the shifting of gas pipelines through a gazette, he added.

The Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha is not allowing the construction of new factory buildings in Dhaka and adjacent areas due to limitations in the DAP (Detailed Area Plan), he said.

“We want to remove all these problems so that our businesses can run smoothly,” Islam said.

“We need one-stop services to attract investment,” said AKM Salim Osman, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

“We need an adequate supply of gas and power, and reduced bank interest rates for good business,” said Osman.

“We do not know the activities of the gas allocation committee. Our industrial units are suffering from inadequate supply of gas, and the committee is not working to this end,” said Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, president of Bangladesh Terry Towel and Linen Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Saiful Islam, chairman of Western Marine Shipyard Ltd, said Bangladesh must launch strong campaigns to oppose negative propaganda against Bangladesh in the global media.

Recently, The New York Times wrote about 80,000 flaws in the factory buildings identified by the Accord, a platform of 189 European retailers and brands for building inspection in Bangladesh. “But nobody protested this report.”

“By improving gas and power supplies, we need to shift the leather factories to Savar from Hazaribagh as soon as possible,” said Mahbubur Rahman, president of International Chamber of Commerce- Bangladesh. He urged the government to overhaul the Board of Investment to accelerate its activities.

“We will soon reduce the bank interest rate as Tk 1 lakh crore is lying idle in our banking system,” said Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“We will resolve the problems with gas pipeline shifting, construction of buildings in the DAP areas and environmental problems soon,” the commerce minister said.

“The ministry will hold the next meeting of the committee this month to review progress after the discussions of the previous meetings.”