New global business order and Bangladesh

The celebration of 50 years of glorious journey of Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in Bangladesh is a pleasant occasion. As a proud member of the FICCI, it is a pleasure on my part, on behalf of Youngone/KEPZ, to congratulate all our colleagues and fellow members of this trade promotion body for achieving this great milestone.  
Interestingly when FICCI is celebrating its 50 years, Youngone is celebrating its 40th year. Almost 35 years back in 1979, I made my first visit to the country. Youngone is the first foreign direct investment (FDI) in the apparel export sector of Bangladesh and also the first jacket exporter. We are pleased to recall those initial days of Youngone Bangladesh in early 1980s when we started our operation with 250 workers in Agrabad, Chittagong.
Since Youngone is the first garment manufacturer that employed a large number of women as workers, we do remember many female workers coming to the factory with their parents and a large number of young onlookers gathering to see these charming workers. Our Korean technicians, who trained those new operators, were impressed with their eager interest to learn and Youngone management was convinced with the technical skills and managerial abilities of Bangladeshi workforce. As the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Youngone/KEPZ (Korean Export Processing Zone), I also remember during cyclone of 1991 when our newly-built factory at Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) were totally flooded and washed away, how sincerely our colleagues tried to clean the debris and finished garments.  
Those initial days were truly challenging, we had to overcome many odds which many entrepreneurs could not even imagine but as we were committed to Bangladesh, we continued to invest and grow. Youngone is now the world's leading sportswear and outdoor clothing manufacturer, and has presence in over 12 countries. We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Bangladesh to our growth and development. Youngone is now one of the largest employer in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) of Bangladesh, having more than 55,000 workforce working in its facilities located at Chittagong, Dhaka and Korean EPZ.
Since its inception, Youngone has been committed to the development of its human resources, protection of the environment and stand by the need of the society. Youngone Bangladesh operation is being run and managed by Bangladeshi professionals who also help Youngone's other overseas locations, including Vietnam and China production. To Youngone, Bangladesh is the first choice, then comes Vietnam and China - not the other way round which many international investors do so. Our Bangladeshi colleagues have proved their ability to run and contribute to the growth of this world-renowned company.
We are thankful to consecutive governments for their help to Youngone and many foreign investments to grow in the country. Many people have a misconception about the necessity of foreign investments. While we agree on the importance of protecting local industry to some extent, as a responsible member of the global community - no country can close its door to foreign investment. In fact, FDI (foreign direct investment) brings not necessarily the much-needed financial support, but also helps in transfer of technology, knowledge on products, market diversifications and management & business expertise - all these are more important in many cases to be successful in the world of business.
At the same time, both government and private sector have to be cautious on what foreign and local investments are coming. We strongly urge all to be very careful in protecting the environment of this beautiful country. When I pass through Turag river on the way to Dhaka EPZ and experience the poor condition of Ashulia road, it makes me very sad. Efficiency of Chittagong port and improvement of Dhaka-Chittagong highway have to be maintained. The development of infrastructure and at the same time protection of environment is now a global challenge which, I hope, this country can address appropriately.
I am pleased to recall here the contribution of the previous government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It is her government which took initiative to enact the Private EPZ Act 1996. President Abdul Hamid, who was then Speaker, presided over the parliament session which passed this law. This act allowed Youngone to establish the country's first private EPZ, Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ), in Anwara, Chittagong, the foundation stone of which was laid by Sheikh Hasina in 1998.
 Though due to some bottlenecks, KEPZ is still not fully operational as per our plan but I am optimistic that the government will take necessary steps to remove the issues to ensure more than 100,000 direct and 200,000 indirect employment at KEPZ. In the meantime, Youngone has set up a production facility namely, Karnaphuli Shoe Industry at KEPZ which already generated a large number of employment and continuously adding more workers. While we are developing KEPZ, we are very much committed to protect the environment. At the Korean EPZ, Youngone has planted over 1.7 million trees, through which the company earned the "Prime Minister's National Award on Tree Plantation".
Due to the tree plantation on this mostly barren land and construction of 17 large water bodies in 135 acres of almost water-less area, the environment has been changed very positively. This has improved the ground water conditions of the region significantly. The company is highly appreciated by the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) for its sincere commitment to develop and conserve the nature and environment.
I would now like to note something about overall readymade garment (RMG) and textile sector. We know how important this sector is, which is contributing immensely to the economy of Bangladesh and its many sub-sectors, in addition to the contribution of around 80 per cent export earnings and employment generation of almost 4.5 million people. Successive governments have taken many good initiatives and a large number of talented Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, along with foreign investors and customers as well as efficient workforce, helped the country to become one of the world's largest garment manufacturing destination.
I firmly believe, all of us are very proud with the success of "Made in Bangladesh" garments. There is still room to grow further if some burning issues could be addressed. Electricity and gas are the primary requirement for any industry. The situation has improved but one should not be complacent. I wish government's master plan on power and energy sector to be successful.
Due to the recent accidents in the RMG sector (Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza building collapse), political unrest, workers' vandalism and lack of infrastructures, global buyers and investors have hesitation to do business in Bangladesh now, in the way this sector expects and deserves. World media and consumer groups are now much more vigilant and therefore, without any failure or compromise, the industry has to be compliant.
 One of the critical issues for the Bangladesh industry is serious image crisis. Government, entrepreneurs and workers have to work together with media, both local and international, to improve the deteriorating image. Here we believe, FICCI can play a key role and I am pleased to assure that Youngone would be with the industry and government on such initiative.  
Bangladesh has proved its resilience throughout its history. It has earned its independence by sacrificing millions of lives; it has also overcome devastations of natural disasters. The country has comparatively less land than its population but again its farmers and government made it almost self-sufficient in food production. Despite last year, Bangladesh has experienced some worst challenges both in business and political arenas, but the remarkable export and GDP (gross domestic product) growth proved the inner strength of the country and its people.  
With some policy - and decision-making support, we do believe Bangladesh has a great potential to become a "Royal Bengal Tiger" in the new global business order - and the country will turn into a "Golden Bengal".
This is an edited version of the speech made by the writer who is chairman & CEO of Youngone/KEPZ) at the Golden Jubilee programme of FICCI on Saturday at a city hotel.