Building our own multinational
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Mirza Md. Zakaria
MY parents are my best friends. To have such a bond is a matter of pride. But such feeling is gradually going out of fashion among many in the country. This is certainly an outcome of our self-centeredness and intolerance.
The number of educated people in the country has surged beyond the imagination of our past generations. A few people of their times, pursued higher education for a host of reasons. Communications from villages to cities were inconvenient as most of the university level institutes were located at the heart of towns and cities. People remained happy in their traditional farming practice, which they thought would provide them with all necessary means of life. There was little opportunity for them in the private sector. So, government job, if any, was the only opportunity they had to fall back upon.
A portion of the qualified people remained in the country and served the nation. The rest would go abroad. It is from this context that the term brain-drain has arisen. Globalization has further contributed to this trend. It has provided a host of multinational companies the scope to market their products in the country.
Job in any multinational company is a covetable proposition in any time or age. Most of the students, especially from different business schools such as IBA or the like, in their career plan have their eyes set on multinational job. Entrepreneurial activities demand a lot of hard labour, dedication, time, capital, and prudence. Our business has been experiencing a reversal; the expected growth is far from being achieved. Nevertheless, our vision is limited to only import substitution, save the garments industry. The garment industry has proved that we can reach where we want to. Credit goes to those who pioneered garments business in the country. They did successfully conduct their entrepreneurial venture in line with the global demand.
We think of working in a multinational company but do want to build one. We care for our short-term benefit but do not use our skill and effort to create the condition for long-term benefit. All these are necessary to turn our country into one that can give birth to a multinational company. Our brains must be utilised for our cause and nobody from outside will tell us which way we should go.
We ourselves have to take the lead for our national interest. Outsiders will not help our business to grow. On the other hand, it is we who have helped the multinationals grow business in our country using our labour, talent and expertise. We should develop our own business and not feel proud about serving in a multinational company.
The writer is an IBA student of Dhaka University
MY parents are my best friends. To have such a bond is a matter of pride. But such feeling is gradually going out of fashion among many in the country. This is certainly an outcome of our self-centeredness and intolerance.
The number of educated people in the country has surged beyond the imagination of our past generations. A few people of their times, pursued higher education for a host of reasons. Communications from villages to cities were inconvenient as most of the university level institutes were located at the heart of towns and cities. People remained happy in their traditional farming practice, which they thought would provide them with all necessary means of life. There was little opportunity for them in the private sector. So, government job, if any, was the only opportunity they had to fall back upon.
A portion of the qualified people remained in the country and served the nation. The rest would go abroad. It is from this context that the term brain-drain has arisen. Globalization has further contributed to this trend. It has provided a host of multinational companies the scope to market their products in the country.
Job in any multinational company is a covetable proposition in any time or age. Most of the students, especially from different business schools such as IBA or the like, in their career plan have their eyes set on multinational job. Entrepreneurial activities demand a lot of hard labour, dedication, time, capital, and prudence. Our business has been experiencing a reversal; the expected growth is far from being achieved. Nevertheless, our vision is limited to only import substitution, save the garments industry. The garment industry has proved that we can reach where we want to. Credit goes to those who pioneered garments business in the country. They did successfully conduct their entrepreneurial venture in line with the global demand.
We think of working in a multinational company but do want to build one. We care for our short-term benefit but do not use our skill and effort to create the condition for long-term benefit. All these are necessary to turn our country into one that can give birth to a multinational company. Our brains must be utilised for our cause and nobody from outside will tell us which way we should go.
We ourselves have to take the lead for our national interest. Outsiders will not help our business to grow. On the other hand, it is we who have helped the multinationals grow business in our country using our labour, talent and expertise. We should develop our own business and not feel proud about serving in a multinational company.
The writer is an IBA student of Dhaka University