PM's adviser urges investment in productive sectors

The economy will grow by another 2.5 percent if savers invest in productive sectors, Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Adviser Mashiur Rahman said yesterday.
People generally invest in land and apartments, but they should invest in productive sectors as well—to help create jobs, he said.
Rahman spoke at a workshop on
the preliminary report and proposed tabulation plan of the Economic Census 2013, organised by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in Dhaka.
Informal activities in the economy are rising, as those require low capital investment and create employment in rural areas, Rahman said.
“We should also focus on formal economic activities to generate more employment.”
Conducted by BBS between March 31 and May 31 this year, the survey found the number of economic units to be 80.75 lakh, up 118 percent from the previous edition of the survey published in 2003.
Agriculture has been excluded from the survey as the statistical agency conducts a separate census for it.
The total number of economic units in 2003 was 37.08 lakh, an increase of 71 percent from 1986, when the first edition of the survey came out.
The census should also reveal non-resident Bangladeshis' contribution to the economy, Rahman said.
“We want to know about the investment capacity of our businesses through this census,” said Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The census helps the government find the areas that require a special focus to boost growth.
“We want to meet the demand of all stakeholders by providing quality data,” said Golam Mostafa Kamal, director general of the state-run statistical agency.
BBS seeks to provide comprehensive statistical information for economic and social development planning as well as policymaking, Kamal said.
The purpose of the study is to investigate the nature of structural change that has occurred in the economy over the last decade, said Dilder Hossain, project director of Economic Census 2013.
For the survey, a list of all establishments and households of the country was prepared.
But economic units, except agriculture, were separated from the list and enumerated in the census, Hossain said.
The survey covered temporary and permanent establishments and economic households, he said.  
Households with non-agricultural economic activities such as cottage industry, shop or workshop are defined as economic households, he said.
The final report of the survey will be published in June 2015.