RAJSHAHI, May 8 (BSS): Foreign investment in agriculture and processing sector in the region has become urgent for adding value to the sector, chamber leaders and economists here said.
If the investment were enhanced substantially, agricultural sector coupled with ICT sector could fetch huge success for the region, they viewed.
Quick implementation of the proposed Hi-tech Park in Rajshahi could be one of the effective means of flourishing the agro-based economy.
Time has come to consider the issue of foreign investment in Rajshahi's agriculture and its problems and prospects to find out a reasonable solution in this regard, they said.
Apart from this, farmer-friendly banking has become an urgent need for strengthening the agro-based economy of the region whereby the agricultural products can enrich the export-list besides minimising the existing gap between export and import.
Quoting the official records, Sanjay Chakravarty, Deputy Director of Board of Investment, here says the overall volume of total foreign investment in Rajshahi from 1971 to 2014 was only 0.014 per cent. The figure is very negligible towards enriching the export list besides minimising the existing gap between export and import.
He underscored the need for setting up agro-processing industries to ensure maximum utilisation of agricultural products.
Establishment of agro-processing industries would encourage the farmers to grow more high-value products for increasing their income. Industrialisation is the most relevant indicator of the country's progress and prosperity, he noted.
Muniruzzaman, President, Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said local infrastructure, legal framework, unskilled labourers and political instability are the main obstacles towards foreign investment.
The region has enormous potentials for making agro-processing enterprises sustainable and profitable as it produces varieties of fruits and vegetables which contribute a lot to the national economy.
He focused on the potentials in agricultural and ICT sectors with special emphasis on value added agro-processing opportunities and agro-based industries.
He said the export list should be enriched with the induction of new products because a region like Rajshahi cannot be developed through exporting a limited number of goods.
