Top business leaders have sought government support to make up for their huge losses.
A delegation of around 200 businesspeople from different sectors made the call at a view-exchange meeting with the new Commerce Minister, Tofail Ahmed, at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital on Tuesday (21 January 2014).
They urged the government to provide them with financial incentives and policy support, as they go about rebuilding their businesses after a spate of political violence.
“2013 was an unlucky year for Bangladesh. We want to turn things around in 2014,” said Md. Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
As the country’s image has been severely damaged due to political turmoil over the last six months, the business leaders called for forming a special taskforce that would work to rebuild the nation’s image with a slogan “Bangladesh is back in business”.
FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said, “Bangladesh is now considered a model for businesses across the globe for its resilience and potential, but we are failing to make the best of it due to our domestic politics.”
AK Azad, Ex-president of FBCCI, urged the government to immediately improve gas and power supply, complete the construction of two additional lanes on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway and reduce bank interest rates.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, President of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh, said goods worth Tk 5,000 crore had to be shipped by air between September and December last year for political unrest. “We have to make sure that this episode never repeats,” he added.
Former FBCCI president Mir Nasir Hossain proposed strengthening the Bangladesh cell of the World Trade Organisation and also Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute to enhance the government officials' efficacy in making trade negotiations.
In response to the suggestions, the Commerce Minister said the government would set up an advisory committee comprised of businessmen, and it would hold regular meetings to solve business-related problems.
He said the government would do everything possible to promote the business sector.
Former FBCCI President Salman F Rahman, Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mahbubul Alam and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association President AKM Salim Osman also spoke at the meeting.