Fund constraint for land acquisition major barrier to build SEZs

Fund constraint for land acquisition is the major barrier to build special economic zones in various parts of the country.
“Although all measures have been taken to build special economic zones in various parts of the country but my office is having fund constraint for land acquisition,'' Paban Chowdhury, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) said in a panel discussion titled "Challenges to Private Sector Development in Bangladesh" organised by Nordic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the Embassy of Sweden on Wednesday.
The seminar was told that lack of entrepreneurial skill caused by lack of effective and quality education and constraints of capital are the barriers to private sector development in Bangladesh.
"Bangladesh's private sectors have been facing multi-dimensional challenges and emergence of new entrepreneurs have been constrained by lack of entrepreneurial skill caused by lack of effective and quality education," Dr. Khondaker Golam Moazzem , CPD Additional Research Director mentioned in his keynote presentation which was based on a research findings jointly conducted by CPD-CMI Research Cooperation.
Inadequate development of supply chain in the manufacturing process at the domestic level causes low level of investment by foreign investors, Dr. Moazzem said adding that business condition is unfavorable as access to utility supplies - electricity, gas supply, transport, waste management and office space is yet to be smooth as expected by investors. He also mentioned that still post-graduate education lack proper standard despite many number of educational institutions present in the country.
In 2010, the Chr. Michelson Institute (CMI) of Norway and the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) of Bangladesh agreed on a three- year research cooperation programme, presided by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Bangladesh.
The purpose of the debate is to shed light on the significance of entrepreneurship and training for private sector development in Bangladesh, and the resilience of FDI in Bangladesh's economy. The discussion shared research insights that the business community can capitalize on and contribute further to the economic development of Bangladesh.
Syed Afsor H. Uddin, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Public Private Partnership Office, Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Ferdous Ara of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) participated in a panel discussion. The panel discussion turned into a lively interactive session while audience took part in the question and answer session. The discussion was moderated by Parveen Huda, Policy Advisor in Skills and Employment Programme.
Syed Afsor H. Uddin, CEO of Public Private Partnership Office, Prime Minister's Office describing activities of PPP office said the government has been building institutional infrastructure to support PPP initiative in the country.