The service sector, the largest in the country, is becoming promising both at home and abroad.
This sector has contributed more than 50 percent of the country’s GDP.
Besides, 39.2 percent of the total employment in the country has been achieved in the service sector.
As part of its move, the government has taken several initiatives to boost the service sector, recovering from Covid-19 pandemic.
The government has so far allotted some Tk 103,117 crore under 19 packages which is 3.7 percent of the GDP to fight the coronavirus pandemic and protect people amid the crisis.
Among the packages, the highest amount of Tk 30,000 crore has been allocated for providing working capital facilities to the affected industries and service sector organizations.
However, the government has set export earnings of the service sector at $7 billion in the current fiscal.
Experts said contributions of industry and service sectors have expanded, while contribution of agricultural sector to GDP and employment has immensely decreased.
Nowadays, people are seen more interested to work more in the service and industry sectors as this sector is more lucrative and profitable than the agriculture sector, they said.
As part of its move, the country’s economic growth is represented by a flourishing of the industry and service sectors, they added.
Hence, the government should utilize this sector in making the economy recover faster amid the corona crisis, they mentioned.
According to the World Bank Human Capital Index, Bangladesh is improving slowly. Since 2009 the expected years of schooling rose by 2.4 years, the report says, adding that girls are dominating their male counterparts at schools.
As a result, the total employment rate in the service sector is rising, it added.
According to the World Employment and Social Outlook, a statistics published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Bangladesh service sector will dominate the agricultural sector.
Former lead economist of World Bank Dr Zahid Hussain told Bangladesh Post, “The service sector plays a crucial role in the country’s economy as this sector is contributing more than 54 percent of GDP.”
He said banking, telecommunication, transportation, e-commerce and health sectors are the main driving forces of this sector.
Zahid said products’ export has significantly decreased for several months for Covid-19 that has badly affected of the world’s normal life.
As a result, export earnings of the service sector have also reduced in the last several months, he added.
Due to the corona pandemic, some sectors like transportation have been facing critical times as people have stopped going to different places without cause except for an emergency, he mentioned.
On the other hand, many sectors like e-commerce and health sectors have a lot of opportunities.
With proper training and some technical support given to young people, the service sector will perform better, he mentioned.
Dr Nazneen Ahmed, senior research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said, "Incremental growth in agriculture is lower than that in service and industry sectors. As a result, more job opportunities have been created in service and industry sectors."
Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said economic transformation is overtaking the service sector from the agriculture sector.
"It is true that employment in the service sector is increasing, but there is a need for making the sector more organised, otherwise employees will face problems, as Bangladesh is mostly dependent on the export oriented manufacturing sector," Dr Moazzem said.
