BNP Acting Secretary General and Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi today said state-owned industries can be turned into profitable enterprises through competent leadership and modern technology.
“Closed factories must be reopened and productivity increased through modernisation. Engineers’ professional skills and experience can play an important role in this regard,” he said.
He made the remarks while addressing a discussion on “Ways to Resolve Existing Problems in the Textile Sector” and a reception for the newly elected ITET committee, organised by the Association of Engineers Bangladesh (AEB) at the IEB auditorium in Ramna here.
Rizvi noted the textile and readymade garment sectors are among the country’s major sources of foreign currency earnings, saying existing problems in these sectors must be identified and addressed promptly.
He said entrepreneurs are facing challenges including energy and power shortages, rising electricity prices, limited financing in the banking sector, difficulties in opening letters of credit (LCs) and meeting international buyers’ compliance requirements.
He said disruptions in energy supplies caused by the international situation and wars were affecting the country’s industrial sector to some extent.
Effective measures must be taken to maintain production and sustain the sector, which provides employment to a large number of people, he added.
Rizvi said Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category could create new challenges for the textile sector. Buyers in Europe and America might not remain as interested in purchasing Bangladeshi products as before after the country’s graduation, he said.
Ensuring the necessary financial support to meet international buyers’ compliance requirements is also essential, he added.
Mentioning that the banking sector had suffered extensive damage during the previous government, he said with limited resources, the banking and financial sectors must now be restructured to ensure necessary financing for industries.
At the same time, working conditions for workers and environmental standards must be ensured so that international buyers do not lose interest in purchasing Bangladeshi products, he added.
Addressing engineers, BNP acting secretary general said patriotism was the fundamental principle of nationalist ideology. Engineers have an important role in rebuilding and developing the country, he said, adding that collective efforts for social and national welfare, rising above individual interests, could help establish Bangladesh as a modern and productive country within a short time.
He said various initiatives under the prime minister’s plan, including Family Cards, Farmers Cards, Expatriate Cards and Health Cards, as well as allowances for imams, muezzins and representatives of other religious communities, reflected efforts to expand the social safety net.
Congratulating the newly elected office bearers of the ITET committee, Rizvi also extended his greetings to the candidates contesting the Engineers Institution election scheduled for next November.