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Govt plans 1 crore new jobs in 3yrs

REJAUL KARIM BYRON
The government in its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) projects creation of about one crore new jobs through various programmes it would undertake in three years.
The PRSP is going to be placed at the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on Sunday likely to be chaired by the prime minister. The PRSP envisages 91.6 lakh new jobs, raising the total number of jobs to 5.81 crore by the end of fiscal year (FY) 08.
In the rural areas, 59.3 lakh new jobs will be created during FY 06 to FY 08 while in the urban areas the number of new jobs over the same period will be 32.3 lakh, according to the PRSP projection.
It also says 27.7 lakh new jobs will be created in the first year -- FY 6.
The PRSP claims making this projection on the basis of labour force surveys, which found a rising trend in new job creation. Employment rose by 4.3 percent during FY 2000 to FY 03 while the rise was recorded at 2.9 percent during FY 96 to FY 2000.
A Planning Commission source also said the recent growth has been more employment friendly. Besides, under the PRSP various programmes are being taken up that would create job opportunities in a larger number and at a quicker pace.
The around 400-page PRSP outlines a roadmap for accelerated poverty reduction through the creation of an investment friendly atmosphere, facilitating greater inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI), higher private investment and securing macroeco-
nomic stability.
With the Development Financing Investments (DFI) almost defunct and inadequate term financing by the commercial banks, the issue of term financing needs to be urgently addressed.
The PRSP says a new investment finance company is going to be set up as a joint venture under government sponsorship. Funds will be generated from a wide range of local and foreign sources and it will be run in line with the best practices of investment financing by efficient staff.
The investment finance company must be given full autonomy and allowed to operate professionally at all stages. A new agency is also going to be created for recovering
loans to reduce the cost of borrowing.
It identifies providing the private sector with adequate credit at reasonable rates of interest as a great challenge. Besides, credit for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and women entrepreneurs are also going to get special attention, it mentioned.
To encourage private investments, business support services will be improved and with that aim, an information and data bank will be set up with the Board of Investment (BOI). The data bank will serve as a central pool of information that will deal with the requirements of investors. It will also gather information relating to investment situation in foreign countries as well as on technology and markets.
The industrial statistics wing of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics will also to be refurbished to facilitate better coordination between different registration authorities.
Sources pointed out that bureaucratic red tapism, corruption, political disturbances, unsatisfactory law and order etc are the main reasons behind poor inflow of FDI. When an entrepreneur goes to set up an industry, he has to obtain certificates and clearances from seven to eight places that involve time loss, harassment and unofficial payments. To solve this problem, the one-stop service at BOI will be streamlined so that an entrepreneur need not loiter indefinitely.
In the PRSP, indicators for monitoring and evaluation of poverty reduction strategies have been worked out to determine the progress in cutting poverty. Besides, it contains a list of policy matrix outlining the todos of the government and how to go about them.