Unido chief stresses stable public policy

Bangladesh needs stable public policies with a risk-free political environment to attract foreign investment and drive sustainable industrialisation, said the director general of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) yesterday.
“Public policy is important for sustainable industrialisation because it takes an average of three to five years to complete a major investment process,” said Dr Kandeh K Yumkella. He was speaking to reporters at Shahjalal International Airport.
The Unido chief said a lack of proper infrastructure is the key barrier to industrialisation, which is common in other developing countries.
“Investors need to be convinced that you (Bangladesh) have solid infrastructure on the ground," he said.
"Secondly, Bangladesh needs confidence that investment will be protected. I think Bangladesh is way ahead in establishing such a level of confidence,” Yumkella said. He was here on a three-visit.
He emphasised good public policies and regulations to ensure that green technologies are adopted.
“Bangladesh needs to adopt green technologies to make its growing industrial sector sustainable.”
Expressing satisfaction over implementation of the Unido-supported programmes here, the UN body chief said it is working with Bangladesh to set up a national cleaner production centre (NCPC), which will look at the concept of 'greening industry'.
“The NCPC will be based on four major pillars -- to reduce the use of natural resources to be energy efficient, to optimise water use, and to reduce effluents,” he said.
He said the organisation identified some additional areas of cooperation, including medical waste management in discussion with Bangladesh.
“We're looking at the whole area of hazardous medical waste, which is a growing problem in a number of countries. We will be developing a new programme dealing with hazardous medical waste. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is also concerned about it,” the Unido chief said.
The UN is advocating the private sector across the world to come and invest in Bangladesh. “There are several international banks and companies that are looking for opportunities for green investment. We are working with public and private entities to give confidence, so that a large volume of investment can be attracted."
Appreciating progress of the garments and pharmaceutical industries, Yumkella said: “Bangladesh can be an example to other developing countries, as it has proven its capacity in these sectors.”
He said there is no doubt that poverty cannot be eradicated without industrialisation.
“I have visited some factories. It was impressive to see what your country has done in expanding industrial production. Some companies are competitive globally and they are producing international standard products and exporting to major international markets,” he said.
“We are pleased to come here. We had very clear reasons -- first of all we reviewed the programs that we have been doing here, to see what we have achieved, what is the opinion of Bangladeshi institutions and government."
Yumkella said Unido wanted to engage in dialogue with the government and all stakeholders in the private sector, and inform relevant parties about their concept of greening industry.
“We also explored new areas where the Bangladesh government believes it needs our support for implementing its Vision 2021."