Businesses in Bangladesh have not stopped their efforts to make a difference despite problems that often plague the atmosphere for doing business and taking new investment decisions. The enterprising businesspeople are looking for improvements and at the same time trying to overcome the situation. This means they are constantly fighting odds, showing tenacity and inherent strengths, for which Bangladeshis are widely appreciated.
Are we then not depleting our capacity and potential in the process? In our cover story ‘Exhausting resilience’, we have tried to give answer to such a question. In many cases, Bangladeshi businessmen have made impossible possible, cashing in on the opportunities available in the crises. At the same time, it is not affordable to entrepreneurs to deal simultaneously with policy ad hoc-ism, infrastructure deficiencies, governance problems and political unrest. So, they need to attain more resilience in a competitive world. We as a nation also need to readdress such problems.
In the interview, former president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Mir Nasir Hossain said energy crisis,poor road infrastructure and inefficient port are a few of the major challenges facing the Bangladeshi businessmen. As recent political instability has created a sense of uncertainty in the minds of potential investors, he underlined the need for creating atmosphere for attracting investments.
The finance minister has time and again stated recently that the biggest challenge of the next (2014-15) budget is to increase private investment for accelerating growth and attaining the middle income country status. We have, in a story ‘Fiscal incentives that matter to businesses’, highlighted major proposals coming from the stakeholders to boost investment and employment.
Dr Binayak Sen, in his guest column ‘Middle Income, Middle Class and Wealth Tax’, observed: ‘We are not sure whether we want to become just any middle income country or a country where middle class plays a dominant role.’ He suggested that wealth tax has to be introduced to mobilise resources and discourage idle and non-productive assets.
The article titled ‘Capitalist solution to capitalism’s problems’ has come up with the idea of engagement and partnership between factories and management and the global supply chain to correct a mistake — overlooking of the issues of labour, environment and inefficiency. Oliver Niedermaier, chief of US firm Tau Investment Management, said they are raising one billion dollar for garments making industry globally and Bangladesh would be the host nation of several of these investments.
In the current issue, we have also focussed on a few sectors, included interesting business stories, features and analyses of different varieties of issues, references and business tips for. We believe we are on track to make improvement and serve our valued readers.
