Improving competitiveness
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Bangladesh has improved on the face of its position in the latest ranking of the global competitive index conducted by the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum (WEF). The position of Bangladesh in the index was 111 in 2007 and the latest one puts it at 106 among the sampled 133 countries. Thus, some sort of move up is reflected though this could be largely devoid of significance.
On the whole, business-friendly conditions are still a far cry in Bangladesh and improvement would require sustained efforts of the government in carrying out neatly planned projects and programmes. In the WEF ranking, the position of Bangladesh is the lowest in South Asia; its position is among the bottom ten countries of the world in this area. Clearly, there are many things to be done to substantially improve competitiveness. The government has now the report of the WEF before it to realize why it should be giving the greatest emphasis to score major improvements in infrastructures at the fastest. If this is done, then there are bright chances of drawing far greater investments from local and foreign investors in the country.
The government seems poised to set up power plants as urgently as possible to produce more power. But it is also seen getting entangled in the nets of the same old vested interests that frustrated the moves of the previous governments to increase power generation. Some local business groups are reportedly trying to monopolize the work of building power plants on terms and conditions that could be highly unfavourable from the standpoint of increasing power supply quickly at reasonable costs. So, the government needs to be very alert to avoid these pitfalls.
The Chittagong port's functioning has improved a great deal during the last two years. But some sliding back is noted in the conditions of this premier port of the country. The government must not only be resolved to retain the improvements already achieved in running this port, it should also aim to further improve its conditions and capacities along with expansion of supportive infrastructures like inland container depots (ICDs). The execution part of the planned Dhaka-Chittagong highway exclusively for use by business traffic should be speeded up to complete it at the soonest. These measures are likely to significantly increase the competitiveness of many businesses in the short term.
The previous government acquired lands to set up an area outside Dhaka to set up a park where investors would be able to invest in plants to produce the raw materials for the burgeoning pharmaceutical industry of the country. The establishment of such a park would help value-additions in this sector. There is also a demand to set up a central testing laboratory for testing the quality of drugs and giving the same certification. The completion of these two projects can give a big boost to export of pharmaceutical products and in the growth of the pharmaceutical sector. The budding information technology (IT) sector also needs a park for large-scale concentrated investments in it by local and foreign investors. Land has been acquired for this purpose by the government. But what is imperative is the fastest completion of this park.
Apart from infrastructures, government must also take appropriate measures to improve law and order conditions related to businesses. Initiatives were taken by the caretaker government for business reforms and improvement of the regulatory environment; these should be continued and vigorously.
On the whole, business-friendly conditions are still a far cry in Bangladesh and improvement would require sustained efforts of the government in carrying out neatly planned projects and programmes. In the WEF ranking, the position of Bangladesh is the lowest in South Asia; its position is among the bottom ten countries of the world in this area. Clearly, there are many things to be done to substantially improve competitiveness. The government has now the report of the WEF before it to realize why it should be giving the greatest emphasis to score major improvements in infrastructures at the fastest. If this is done, then there are bright chances of drawing far greater investments from local and foreign investors in the country.
The government seems poised to set up power plants as urgently as possible to produce more power. But it is also seen getting entangled in the nets of the same old vested interests that frustrated the moves of the previous governments to increase power generation. Some local business groups are reportedly trying to monopolize the work of building power plants on terms and conditions that could be highly unfavourable from the standpoint of increasing power supply quickly at reasonable costs. So, the government needs to be very alert to avoid these pitfalls.
The Chittagong port's functioning has improved a great deal during the last two years. But some sliding back is noted in the conditions of this premier port of the country. The government must not only be resolved to retain the improvements already achieved in running this port, it should also aim to further improve its conditions and capacities along with expansion of supportive infrastructures like inland container depots (ICDs). The execution part of the planned Dhaka-Chittagong highway exclusively for use by business traffic should be speeded up to complete it at the soonest. These measures are likely to significantly increase the competitiveness of many businesses in the short term.
The previous government acquired lands to set up an area outside Dhaka to set up a park where investors would be able to invest in plants to produce the raw materials for the burgeoning pharmaceutical industry of the country. The establishment of such a park would help value-additions in this sector. There is also a demand to set up a central testing laboratory for testing the quality of drugs and giving the same certification. The completion of these two projects can give a big boost to export of pharmaceutical products and in the growth of the pharmaceutical sector. The budding information technology (IT) sector also needs a park for large-scale concentrated investments in it by local and foreign investors. Land has been acquired for this purpose by the government. But what is imperative is the fastest completion of this park.
Apart from infrastructures, government must also take appropriate measures to improve law and order conditions related to businesses. Initiatives were taken by the caretaker government for business reforms and improvement of the regulatory environment; these should be continued and vigorously.