Commercial capital

Known as the commercial capital, Chittagong is largely so only by name. The range and scope of a truly commercial capital has not been explored exhaustively enough to give the country's second largest city the shape it deserves. Development of the port city into a commercial capital is however in the interest of not only of the region concerned but also of the entire country. The sentiment of structuring a shape befitting a commercial capital has been expressed at a recent reception accorded to three members of parliament (MPs), including a state minister, from Chittagong. However, such a demand should not be tainted parochial by any means. A demand like this is as much important as the one for the construction of the proposed Padma Bridge. All the necessary conditions, including geographic location, are there for developing the port city as a commercial capital. The need is to give it the touch it requires.

With the Bay of Bengal washing its feet and allowing ships and cargoes to find it as a convenient port of call, the country's premier seaport has the advantage of handling increasing volume of export and import cargoes many times over. Neighbouring countries like Bhutan, India and even China are interested to use the service of the port if its handling capacity for container goods can be raised accordingly. The port city stands at a strategic location for commerce and business and this should be made good use of, before Myanmar wrests the initiatives to divert the focus. Because the opening up of this port city to the sea holds out bright prospects for its becoming one major regional commercial hub. Bangladesh enjoys here its geographic locational advantage. It is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on the one hand and has also close proximity to the member-countries of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), on the other. It thus enjoys some commercially important advantages others can hardly imagine. Also the proposed Asian Highway to be connected with Europe can run by the city if initiatives are taken from the Bangladesh side. With so much at stake, there is no reason why the city and its port must not be developed to take the challenges of the time to come.

Bangladesh aspires to become a middle-income country in less than a decade. To sustain its pace of economic growth and overall development, there is no alternative to providing enough impetus to industrial output and consequent commerce and business. This small country should be brought under a most effective communication network. Speakers at the reception waxed lyrical about the four-lane or six-lane Dhaka Chittagong Highway but they never mentioned the development of railway. Why? Instead of going for big-budget road transportation, which moreover is far costlier than railway transportation, the need is to expand highly efficient railway service - metro and express. If and when Chittogong really turns into a truly commercial capital, railway communication with it has to be highly modern and faster. Electricity and gas connection to factories and industries in Chittagong is a precondition for making the port city's production and economic base stronger. These are some of the priority areas for attending first in order to making Chittagong a commercial capital.