Making TCB a public limited co is again on the cards
Naim-Ul-Karim | Friday, 20 June 2008
The government's plan to make the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) a public limited company is now again on the cards to reinvigorate the activities of the state-owned agency, said a senior official Thursday.
He said the plan came at a time when the TCB was failing to support the government efforts in stabilising the domestic overheated market.
The official said the initiative of transforming TCB into a public limited company was conceived in 2007 when Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam was in-charge of the Ministry of Commerce but subsequently it was shelved with the changes in the caretaker government.
A senior official of the commerce ministry said: "Yes, there is a move now to make TCB a public limited company."
Commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman also hinted of the changes in the TCB to strengthen its functioning.
"Name and structure of the entity may undergo total overhauling apart from empowering it for procuring and selling of essentials at fair prices and serve the purposes for which it was created," a senior official quoted commerce adviser as saying during his Chittagong visit on Sunday.
TCB was created by a presidential order in 1972 under the Ministry of Commerce to import commodities as per requirements of the government and sell those at fair prices to keep the market stable and also engage in trading and related activities as directed.
But since 1990s, an official said, imports of TCB came down drastically under open market policy and at present its share stands at a mere 0.3 per cent of the country's total imports.
Chairman of TCB, Md Ziaul Islam, said: "There was a plan to transform the state agency into a public limited company last year."
In the context of open market economy, he said, it is really tough for TCB to compete with the private sector.
A senior official said the Ministry of Commerce will hold a meeting soon after its secretary returns home from a foreign trip to determine the fate of TCB.
He said: "Presently, there is no window of the government to stock essentials except rice and wheat for market intervention whenever required."
The official said the government can allow TCB to stock large quantity of essential commodities to feed the market when there is supply shortage.
He said the Public Procurement Act-2006, which comes into force on January 31, 2008 is also an impediment to the state agency's functioning particularly in procuring essentials.
He said the plan came at a time when the TCB was failing to support the government efforts in stabilising the domestic overheated market.
The official said the initiative of transforming TCB into a public limited company was conceived in 2007 when Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam was in-charge of the Ministry of Commerce but subsequently it was shelved with the changes in the caretaker government.
A senior official of the commerce ministry said: "Yes, there is a move now to make TCB a public limited company."
Commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman also hinted of the changes in the TCB to strengthen its functioning.
"Name and structure of the entity may undergo total overhauling apart from empowering it for procuring and selling of essentials at fair prices and serve the purposes for which it was created," a senior official quoted commerce adviser as saying during his Chittagong visit on Sunday.
TCB was created by a presidential order in 1972 under the Ministry of Commerce to import commodities as per requirements of the government and sell those at fair prices to keep the market stable and also engage in trading and related activities as directed.
But since 1990s, an official said, imports of TCB came down drastically under open market policy and at present its share stands at a mere 0.3 per cent of the country's total imports.
Chairman of TCB, Md Ziaul Islam, said: "There was a plan to transform the state agency into a public limited company last year."
In the context of open market economy, he said, it is really tough for TCB to compete with the private sector.
A senior official said the Ministry of Commerce will hold a meeting soon after its secretary returns home from a foreign trip to determine the fate of TCB.
He said: "Presently, there is no window of the government to stock essentials except rice and wheat for market intervention whenever required."
The official said the government can allow TCB to stock large quantity of essential commodities to feed the market when there is supply shortage.
He said the Public Procurement Act-2006, which comes into force on January 31, 2008 is also an impediment to the state agency's functioning particularly in procuring essentials.