Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister M. Tofazzel Hossain Miah has called for carrying out necessary policy reforms and alignment for fostering the growth of private investment in the country.
He lso emphasized on active initiatives of private sector along with government initiatives for augmenting private investment.
He made these remarks while speaking as the chief guest of the ‘Validation Workshop on the Report of the Study on Expanding Private Investment in the Context of LDC Graduation’ held at the NEC Conference Room of the capital on Tuesday.
Support to Sustainable Graduation Project (SSGP) of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) organized the event.
Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) Shaikh Yusuf Harun and former Senior Secretary of ERD Sharifa Khan attended the event as special guests.ERD Secretary Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky chaired the workshop.
As part of that process, a study is being carried out on “Expanding Private Investment in the Context of LDC Graduation” with support from the local think tank South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM).
Against this backdrop, the workshop was organized to review the major findings of the study and to disseminate them among the relevant stakeholders.
The Principal Secretary ,in his speech, emphasized on enhancing productivity and decreasing dependency on incentives for preparing the country for post-LDC scenario. In this context, he called for increased investment in research and development by the private sector.
ERD Secretary Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky put emphasis on creating a business-friendly environment for fostering private investment in the country.
Executive Chairman of BEZA Shaikh Yusuf Harun said that the government is targeting to operationalize four SEZs each year.
Executive Director of SANEM Dr. Selim Raihan, in his keynote presentation, highlighted the major findings of the study.
Dr. Selim, in his presentation, said that large-scale infrastructure projects work as a driving force to accelerate the economic growth of a developing country like Bangladesh.
He noted that private investment growth would largely depend on the timely implementation of the mega infrastructural projects.
Executive Member of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Mohsina Yasmin, President of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar and the Chief Executive Officer of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) Ferdaus Ara Begumalso spoke during the event as panelists.
