Explore vast marine resources: Hasina
A delegation of FBCCI calls on the prime minister
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked businessmen to tap the growing domestic market and explore the vast marine resources of the Bay of Bengal.
Hasina made the call in a meeting at her office with a delegation of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry led by its president, Abdul Matlub Ahmad.
"The domestic market will grow with the increasing purchasing capacity of the common people," she said.
Hasina said her government had set up many gas transmission lines to extend the gas connections.
About the recent power and gas tariff hike, the prime minister said the government had to purchase fuel at a higher price earlier for power generation for which it had to bear a liability of Tk 38,000 crore.
Out of such liability, she said, about Tk 8,000 crore have so far been paid.
The government is trying to reduce bank interest rate to a single digit to help flourish industrialisation and businesses, she said.
She suggested Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to look into ways to export Halal meats to other countries, as many Muslim countries have a large market for those products.
The proposed Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal initiative and Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar initiative have provisions of boosting regional connectivity which could help flourish businesses, she said.
She also asked businessmen to pay taxes, based on which the government can provide incentives to them.
She also suggested the industrialists and businessmen to opt for planned industrialisation, so that any fire accident can be dealt with properly.
The ongoing work on Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Mymensingh, Dhaka-Sylhet four-lane projects and the efforts to establish a rail link to Cox's Bazar would flourish industrialisation, the premier said.
Putting emphasis on optimum utilisation of rawhide, she said the government is looking for suitable places to set up slaughterhouses.
FBCCI chief Ahmad said the country's businessmen would work hand in hand with the government to materialise the Vision-2021.