BD to emerge as next Asian tiger: Mozena

CHITTAGONG, Oct 01: Bangladesh will emerge as the next Asian tiger provided it meets challenges of education revolution to build up a skilled and trained workforce.

The country needs also to develop a strong physical infrastructure including Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane highway, double tracking of Dhaka-Chittagong railway line, ensure political stability, enhance port facilities and capabilities and attain energy safety by exploring gas and importing gas and LNG (liquefied natural gas) from neighbours.

Other challenges include checking corruption, removing bottlenecks in the administration and the establishment of rule of law. If these challenges are properly addressed, the country's desired economic growth will be achieved, he added.

US Ambassador in Bangladesh Dan Mozena said this while presenting a keynote paper at a roundtable on "Bangladesh's Infrastructural Development in terms of Progress, Needs and Next Steps" at Hotel Agrabad in the city on Wednesday morning.

Presided over by CCCI (Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry) president Mahbubul Alam, the event was jointly organized by the premier trade body CCCI and the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham).

The US Ambassador said the vision of Bangladesh as the next Asian tiger is shared by many others, McKinnsey Reports, Goldmam Sachs, JP Morgan, to name a few. The question then arises: Why is Bangladesh today not already an Asian tiger?

"First and foremost, I believe Bangladesh needs an education revolution like the successful agricultural revolution now underway.

Bangladesh needs, Bangladesh deserves, the best, highest quality education and skills training in the world, for all Bangladesh's citizens, not just the privileged elites."

He emphasised that Bangladesh also needs to invest in its physical infrastructure. "When Grace and I departed Bangladesh on June 7, 2001, I remember two Bangladeshis who came to see us told me that I would need to come back in 2002. When I asked why, they said I should come for the ribbon cutting on the new dual-carriageway between Dhaka and Chittagong. I understand that the 250-kilometre road is at best 28% finished," he said.

This road link, which would slash travel time between the country's two most important cities to about three hours, would itself add up to two percentage points to Bangladesh's annual GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate, he said urging the government to give highest attention to finishing the road as this would do wonders to increase Bangladesh's competitiveness in the global marketplace.

He said that it is amazing, the rail link between Dhaka, one of the world's great mega-cities, and Chittagong, the nation's premier port and link to the global economy, is only a single track, largely a remnant of the British era nearly 70 years ago. Only 80,000 of more than 1 million containers that course through Chittagong each year move by rail. The solution to this challenge is obvious, he said.

"My vision of Bangladesh as the world's largest exporter of apparels, a huge player in the global marketplace for generic pharmaceuticals, shoes, finished leather goods, frozen shrimp, small freighters, software development, semi-conductor production, bone china, flowers, silk products, creative jute products and the list goes on," he said.

"My vision of Bangladesh as an exporter of skilled, semi-skilled and professional manpower to build the Middle East, Southeast and East Asia, and of course the nexus of the 21st century's great trade routes, Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor," he said.

That is my vision of Bangladesh as the next Asian Tiger, a vision based on three years of my crisscrossing this country from one end to the other, he said adding that just on Saturday he concluded in Comilla his quest to visit all 64 districts.

"Everywhere I went, I saw firsthand how rich this country is, the most fertile soil, ample water, perfect climate that allows up to four crops a year, huge coal deposits, rich gas reserves, and most especially, the wonderful people of Bangladesh … hard workers, creative, entrepreneurial, resilient… the finest people I know," he said.

CCCI president said the government is providing substantial support including tax holiday, bond facilities etc. "As cost of doing business in Bangladesh is less than almost any other country in the world, many foreign companies are interested to enhance their investment. But we are suffering from some limitations among which infrastructure development comes first," he said.

He said that the capacity of Chittagong Port exceeded all its previous records last year. New Mooring Container Terminal is ready for operation which will further increase the capacity and productivity of the port operation to a great extent.

Side by side, construction of the deep seaport should be undertaken immediately as it has vast prospect of trade, investment and business not only for the country but also for countries of this region including Myanmar, India, China, Nepal and Bhutan. "If we can avail the opportunities we have, we can definitely become a leading land of foreign investment," he added.

AmCham president Aftabul Islam, managing director of AK Khan group Salauddin Kashem Khan, former CCCI president Mirza Abu Mansur, vice chancellor of East Delta University Sekander Khan, former CCCI president Amir Humayun Mahmud Chowdhury, veteran business leader Taher Sobhan and CCCI vice president Syed Jamal Ahmed spoke on the occasion.

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