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Redesign policy for ease of business

Top BGMEA official suggests methods to help businesses grow

Arun Bikash Dey, Chittagong
CHITTAGONG is a city that deals in a lot of business but it still lags in infrastructure, which deters it from reaching its potential, said Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, the first vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The Chittagong port is a gateway of prosperity but port management cannot exercise adequate power to run operations, he said, adding that port management should be kept free from all sorts of interference.
"If Chittagong port can be developed to a certain standard by providing proper power and independence to its management, the country would surely achieve economic development,” he said.
"As we see the process of employment of operator for the New Mooring Container Terminal, which was built at a cost of Tk 700 crore, has been hanging for three years in a tangle of tender and re-tender, we cannot utilise this terminal to its full capacity,” Chowdhury said. The terminal is 'underutilised1.
Colombo port in Sri Lanka has become a world-class port after the government gave the portmanagement necessary independence and power, the BGMEA first vice-president said. The chairman of Colombo port was given a designation and power equivalent to that of a minister, he added.
Chowdhury suggested an office of the shipping ministry be set up at Chittagong port. The minister-in-charge should arrange a meeting every week on different agenda regarding the port, he said.
Doing business in the port city is not easy as there are many constraints, said Chowdhury, who is also the managing director of Eastern Apparel Ltd. To make the port city business-friendly, the government should pay attention to building infrastructure and provide necessary utilities without any interruption, he added.
“We have no industrial zone in Chittagong, neither in the country. Entrepreneurs are not interested in investing here,” he said. The government can make garment-villages in different zones of the city and its outskirts that will not only expand industrialisation but also create jobs for the rural people, he added.
By providing all sorts of infrastructure and utilities, the government can make townships in different zones off the city, like Patiya, Hathazari, Fatikchhari, Mirsarai, Sitakunda and Chakaria, he said.
If the government can make at least two industrial zones under a pilot project, the rush of the rural population to the city will shrink and it will reduce the pressure on the city, Chowdhury said. It will also generate significant employment, he added.
There is no five-star hotel in Chittagong, which also holds back businesses from growing in the port city as foreign delegates want comfortable accommodation when in the city for business, he said. This is also one of the main problems to tourism too, he added.
Increasing international connectivity of Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport is also another issue that must be addressed immediately, Chowdhury said. "Frequent flights should be operated to different international routes and a good number of new flights should also be introduced,” he added.
An expressway will have to be constructed from the airport into the city to reduce travel time, he said. It can be constructed through either public private partnership or build-operate-and-transfer, he added.
The energy crisis is the major impediment to industrialisation in the country at the moment, he said. "I suggest the government set up coalbased power plants. There is no alternative to an uninterrupted supply of power and gas to the industrial units. The inactive power plants will also have to be renovated.”
The government should adopt modernised policies to bring about improvements; some policies like
establishing a bonded warehouse, back to back letter of credit facility, and utilisation permission and declaration are welcome moves, he said.
However, some policies are vague and take time to implement, and the industries become sick by the time the benefits reach them, he said.
In the readymade garment (RMG) sector, time is an important factor, for which dynamic policy is needed to finish work in the quickest time, he said. Bureaucratic tangles should also be resolved, he added.
As an organisation, BGMEA has been playing a role in protecting the interest of its members, he said. BGMEA negotiates government institutions on different issues to enhance the facilities of RMG business.
It also plays a proactive role in the welfare of the workers, said Chowdhury. “We have built a hospital for the RMG workers in the port city and we have taken initiatives to build dormitories for female workers.”
In addition, BGMEA runs a good number of schools to provide primary education to the children of workers employed in 5,000 RMG factories throughout the country, he said.
Large-scale dormitories need to be constructed for the sake of safe accommodation of the RMG workers, Chowdhury said. "The government should come forward to take this initiative as it is difficult for an individual or a group to take such an initiative.”
The BGMEA first vice-president said the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry should play a
proactive role in addressing the problems of the business community in the port city. As a pressure group, it has scope to make a difference and it can make guidelines through its research and development cell to suggest business-friendly policies to the government, he said.
Chowdhury said environmental and climate issues should be addressed at micro-levels. At present, the “green business” is the slogan for worldwide business, he said. To ensure a green business, factories need to install effluent treatment plants (ETP), he added.
It is tough for an individual factory to install an ETR Chowdhury said. The government can come forward to cooperate with the factories in clusters of 10-20 factories in an area under the green business slogan, he added.