Top business leaders of the country on Tuesday urged the government to take initiatives to help regain the image that the country lost due to the recent political turmoil.
The world needs to be informed that Bangladesh is now back to business in a friendly environment, they said.
The ministry of commerce (MoC) organised a view-exchange meeting with the heads of top business bodies, as newly appointed commerce minister Tofail Ahmed took office recently. Commerce secretary Mahbub Ahmed presided over the meeting held at a city hotel.
The minister said the government would extend all-out cooperation to help cut the losses the businesses had incurred during the last couple of months due to shutdowns, blockades and other types of unrest.
"I will request Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to facilitate the business sector by helping cut the losses," the minister said.
He said Bangladesh is one of the top nations which have attained tremendous growth in the recent years. The country's export earnings in 1972-73 was US$ 200 million which soared to nearly $30 billion now.
Mr Ahmed acknowledged that although neighbouring India has extended duty-free and quota-free facilities to Bangladesh, export could not be raised much due to various non-tariff and para-tariff barriers. "I have informed the Indian authorities about the barriers during a meeting in New Delhi recently," he added.
The minister said Bangladesh's product basket was very small, which needed to be made bigger to raise earnings from the export sector.
The commerce minister said the main foreign currency earner, the ready-made garment industry, faced a blow after the Rana Plaza collapse incident which put serious strains on the country's image.
He said the opposition parties enforced blockades, shutdowns and violent programmes aiming to destroy the image of Bangladesh and turn it into a 'failed state' like Pakistan.
The minister reiterated his assurance of helping business and said: "We did it in the past and will do in the days to come."
President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said Bangladesh was now a global role-model in economic growth.
"Our export growth is fine, we have achieved 7/8 targets of millennium development goals much ahead of many others," he said.
"We want further cooperation of the government to keep continuing the pace of growth," he added.
President of International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICCB) Mahbubur Rahman expressed the hope that the business will now be in good hands as the new commerce minister has taken office.
"If we can proceed, we will be able to overcome the losses caused by unrest and blockades," he said.
Chairman of Apex Group Syed Manzur Elahi urged the minister to form a taskforce which will work to regain the image the country has lost during the political unrest.
He said the image problem was now very serious. "We have to sell our country first, and then our commodity."
Mr Elahi said to the global community Bangladesh now meant terrorism, hartal and blockades, which had created a massive credibility gap.
"Customers will turn to Bangladesh again if the image can be developed," he said.
President of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) A K Azad said the country's business experienced various problems during the last couple of months which was still continuing.
He said banks now had huge idle money as private sector could not use that due to the turmoil. Problems like lack of gas and power connections had held back industrialisation.
Mr Azad said cost of doing business had also increased in the meantime.
Former president of FBCCI Mir Nasir Hossain urged the minister to raise negotiation skill of government officials.
He said the issue of duty-free and quota-free access of Bangladeshi goods to the US market needed to be resolved immediately through discussing it at Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) meet.
President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Mahbubul Alam said transport movement on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway was extremely disrupted during the last six months of political turmoil.
He said the construction work of the four-lane highway needed to be completed immediately to facilitate external business.
President of Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh, Rupali Chowdhury said the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) had dropped significantly in the recent months.
She said a foreign investor needs to go to several tables spending nearly 1.5 years before starting a business. Ms Chowdhury said the process needed to be made faster to raise FDI flow.
President of Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) Syed Nasim Manzur said Bangladesh has been losing its competitiveness even in the duty-free market.
Since 1990 Bangladesh has been exporting leather and leather goods to Japan. Recently, India has signed free trade agreement with Japan and is enjoying duty-free and quota-free facilities there.
"We need to check what steps are there to stop losing competitiveness even in duty-free markets," he said.
He also said Bangladesh's image faced a massive blow during the last couple of months. "There should be a campaign telling all that we are back to business."
Chairman of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries Salman F Rahman urged taking short, medium, and long-term plans to offset the loss the businesses had incurred during the last couple of months.
President of Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) Abdus Salam Murshedy insisted on taking steps for recovery of the image that had been lost after Rana Plaza collapse, fire at Tazreen Fashions, and due to the recent political unrest.
President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Atiqul Islam said 2013 was an unlucky year for the apparel sector.
President of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Rokia Afzal Rahman, Transcom Group chairman Latifur Rahman, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) president Jahangir Alamin, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Mohammad Shahjahan Khan, president of Bangladesh Insurance Assocaition Sheikh Kabir Hossain, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Selim Osman, spoke among others, on the occasion.
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