All-out efforts needed to fight corruption, MD of Four H Group of Industries tells FE
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Our Ctg Correspondent
Gauhar Siraj Jamil, the managing director of Four H Group of Industries, is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of the country, a dynamic and forward looking man of vision, known for his fight against all sorts of corruption. The man loves to think straight, work in a clean environment and acts as guide to the employees for whom they have high esteem. GS Jamil is running 15 industries. Of those 10 factories manufacture knitwear garment, three accessories factories and two printing industries. These industries have an employment of over 11,000. Yearly turnover of the Four H Group was US$ 72 million in the last fiscal year. Interview of Mr Jamil was taken on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of The Financial Express. Excerpts: FE: You are the first businessman to file corruption case against a senior official of the government's Anti-Corruption Commission. You are facing a lot of trouble as well. GS Jamil: The matter is now sub-judice. I would like to focus on business. I would continue to fight against as well. Little bother what may come on the way. It is desperately needed and must be achieved to help government drive the country to a middle-income nation by 2021 as envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It is absolutely possible if we as a nation keep fighting against corruption, catch the culprits red-handed and hand over to the law enforcement agencies. Such acts will get government support because the PM herself and some others in the government high-ups are very sincere about it. FE: But how is it possible? GS Jamil: Certainly it is possible. What we need is that the government ensures a good system to stop corruption. The wages of the government employees should be enhanced further. They need to be paid the salaries which will keep them away from taking bribes. This cannot be implemented in a day. It should be done in phases. The government can also strengthen the campaign against corruption while the print and visual media should come forward with wide coverage on the government moves to fight corruption in the public sectors. The corruption level is high in the mid-level officials, that is, the field officers below the rank of deputy secretary. They often make their bosses allured to corruption by sending a portion of the bribed money. The senior bosses should strongly warn their subordinates against such acts but it is not seen up to the expected level. For this the government needs to be tough both in law and action. Mid level management officials should be more educated and must be transparent and accountable. In the police administration, a sub-inspector cannot maintain his family with the salary he is paid. So he will be induced to bribery while investigating a case. The readymade garment sector can be an example here. A man of SI's status in the RMG sector is getting more in the major RMG houses. For that reason the garment industry is a booming sector. The more you pay the more you earn. If you spend more you will always look for earning more and one day you will get the outcome, but of course in a transparent way. FE: What about overall business in the country? GS Jamil: The most common problem is that the businesses often decry that the banks' interest rates are too high. Currently it is around 13-14 per cent. Leaders of the premier trade bodies have urged the concerned authorities on several occasions to bring down the bank rate below 10 per cent which will facilitate businesses. But we see no step as yet. It is the Bangladesh Bank which will take decisions on the matter. The way the government is moving is appreciable. Investors are getting incentives in some fields but they should get higher level of priority. It will generate more employment which is one of the major goals of the government. FE: Will you comment on politics? GS Jamil: We don't do politics but none of us is away from politics. We are bothered when we see some politicians are guided by their whims instead of people's welfare. The politicians, be they in power or opposition, should have respect for each other and must have respect for the citizens of the country because it is the citizens who vote them to parliament. People's trust in the politicians is decaying. The younger generation is getting worried. It is the responsibility of the government and the opposition to do something different and bring the new generation into confidence. A powerful democratic system should be practiced within the political parties and in administering the country. India has built up that practice. The country has developed extremely over the last 10 years of Congress administration and we have in front an example of Congress president Sonia Gandhi who has sacrificed the premiership to Manmohan Singh to run the country affairs. An old man like Anna Hazare has shaken the central government in his campaign against corruption. This was possible because the democratic practice remains there. In Bangladesh we see that the present government headed by Sheikh Hasina is striving relentlessly to removes worries of the common people. She has done a lot for taking the country onward but the outcome is yet to feature out in front of the common people. For the last two and a half years her government has installed a good number of power plants to supply electricity to the people. The government has continued gas exploration as well. We are yet to get much output from these projects but days are being passed when we will see it. The government of Sheikh Hasina has vowed to make the country a middle-income nation. I believe she can do it. FE: And finally, the prospects of Bangladesh. GS Jamil: Well, we are very strong nation. We can lift up ourselves to the external world as a civilized nation in near future. There is no doubt, our dreams for a self-independent nation will come true and we can fulfill the dreams of the nation because the nation has many patriots. It takes time because we are yet to come out of our past debris.
Gauhar Siraj Jamil, the managing director of Four H Group of Industries, is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of the country, a dynamic and forward looking man of vision, known for his fight against all sorts of corruption. The man loves to think straight, work in a clean environment and acts as guide to the employees for whom they have high esteem. GS Jamil is running 15 industries. Of those 10 factories manufacture knitwear garment, three accessories factories and two printing industries. These industries have an employment of over 11,000. Yearly turnover of the Four H Group was US$ 72 million in the last fiscal year. Interview of Mr Jamil was taken on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of The Financial Express. Excerpts: FE: You are the first businessman to file corruption case against a senior official of the government's Anti-Corruption Commission. You are facing a lot of trouble as well. GS Jamil: The matter is now sub-judice. I would like to focus on business. I would continue to fight against as well. Little bother what may come on the way. It is desperately needed and must be achieved to help government drive the country to a middle-income nation by 2021 as envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It is absolutely possible if we as a nation keep fighting against corruption, catch the culprits red-handed and hand over to the law enforcement agencies. Such acts will get government support because the PM herself and some others in the government high-ups are very sincere about it. FE: But how is it possible? GS Jamil: Certainly it is possible. What we need is that the government ensures a good system to stop corruption. The wages of the government employees should be enhanced further. They need to be paid the salaries which will keep them away from taking bribes. This cannot be implemented in a day. It should be done in phases. The government can also strengthen the campaign against corruption while the print and visual media should come forward with wide coverage on the government moves to fight corruption in the public sectors. The corruption level is high in the mid-level officials, that is, the field officers below the rank of deputy secretary. They often make their bosses allured to corruption by sending a portion of the bribed money. The senior bosses should strongly warn their subordinates against such acts but it is not seen up to the expected level. For this the government needs to be tough both in law and action. Mid level management officials should be more educated and must be transparent and accountable. In the police administration, a sub-inspector cannot maintain his family with the salary he is paid. So he will be induced to bribery while investigating a case. The readymade garment sector can be an example here. A man of SI's status in the RMG sector is getting more in the major RMG houses. For that reason the garment industry is a booming sector. The more you pay the more you earn. If you spend more you will always look for earning more and one day you will get the outcome, but of course in a transparent way. FE: What about overall business in the country? GS Jamil: The most common problem is that the businesses often decry that the banks' interest rates are too high. Currently it is around 13-14 per cent. Leaders of the premier trade bodies have urged the concerned authorities on several occasions to bring down the bank rate below 10 per cent which will facilitate businesses. But we see no step as yet. It is the Bangladesh Bank which will take decisions on the matter. The way the government is moving is appreciable. Investors are getting incentives in some fields but they should get higher level of priority. It will generate more employment which is one of the major goals of the government. FE: Will you comment on politics? GS Jamil: We don't do politics but none of us is away from politics. We are bothered when we see some politicians are guided by their whims instead of people's welfare. The politicians, be they in power or opposition, should have respect for each other and must have respect for the citizens of the country because it is the citizens who vote them to parliament. People's trust in the politicians is decaying. The younger generation is getting worried. It is the responsibility of the government and the opposition to do something different and bring the new generation into confidence. A powerful democratic system should be practiced within the political parties and in administering the country. India has built up that practice. The country has developed extremely over the last 10 years of Congress administration and we have in front an example of Congress president Sonia Gandhi who has sacrificed the premiership to Manmohan Singh to run the country affairs. An old man like Anna Hazare has shaken the central government in his campaign against corruption. This was possible because the democratic practice remains there. In Bangladesh we see that the present government headed by Sheikh Hasina is striving relentlessly to removes worries of the common people. She has done a lot for taking the country onward but the outcome is yet to feature out in front of the common people. For the last two and a half years her government has installed a good number of power plants to supply electricity to the people. The government has continued gas exploration as well. We are yet to get much output from these projects but days are being passed when we will see it. The government of Sheikh Hasina has vowed to make the country a middle-income nation. I believe she can do it. FE: And finally, the prospects of Bangladesh. GS Jamil: Well, we are very strong nation. We can lift up ourselves to the external world as a civilized nation in near future. There is no doubt, our dreams for a self-independent nation will come true and we can fulfill the dreams of the nation because the nation has many patriots. It takes time because we are yet to come out of our past debris.