The new president of the country’s apex trade body, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), has already written to the Bangladesh Bank seeking opportunities for businesses struggling to pay instalments against loans to turn around their fortunes before declaring them loan defaulters.
He also believes heightened inflation is a global issue, rather than unique to Bangladesh, as prices of daily essentials and energy have witnessed spikes across the world, including the USA and Europe.
Bangladesh is trying to curb inflation, but the global supply chain disruption creates crises on the supply side, which is the cause of the price hike in some cases, he pointed out.
Talking to UNB, Mahbubul Alam gave his opinions on different issues including inflation, the dollar crisis, export diversification, and the challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mahbubul was elected the new president of the FBCCI as a leader of the Sammilito Oikko Parishad, for the 2023-25 tenure.
The election was held on July 31 and he took charge as the president on August 14. He also serves as the president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).
Beyond his business acumen, Mahbubul Alam has received recognition in the form of CIP (Trade) and CIP (Industry) Awards from the commerce ministry. He is also a committed philanthropist, contributing to various social causes.
Internationally, he is the recipient of a "Certificate of Merit" from the World Customs Organization.
Mahbubul said in the present economic reality, suppose an entrepreneur has 12 factories; among those, one or two will have fallen into problems, but the other 10 would be running well.
In this situation, if the business group was declared a defaulter, he said, the entrepreneur would not run the other factories, and a large number of employees would lose their jobs.
He acknowledged that in the last two years, a huge volume of loans went into default as many businessmen were not paying their instalments.
The FBCCI chief said the apex trade body has already written a letter to the Bangladesh Bank to not declare any company a defaulter without understanding the reality.
He suggested running the factories as an option to get a return. He opposed the wholesale declaration of loan defaulters rather than giving opportunities to improve.
Mahbubul agreed that the businessmen have to repay the loan otherwise the banks will be in trouble.
Regarding the dollar crisis, the FBCCI president emphasised enhancing remittance earnings by sending more skilled human resources abroad along with the unskilled manpower already being sent.
He also urged the government to develop a system through which remittances could be sent easily to Bangladesh using legal channels from the Middle East and other regions of the world.
Mahbubul, the owner of Chattogram-based M/S Alam Trading, also put emphasis on enhancing the capacity of foreign missions of Bangladesh so that those missions can arrange trade fairs to display different traditional and non-traditional products as part of the export diversification campaign.
Regarding SDG achievement, the FBCCI president said the capacity of domestic businesses must increase to compete with global manufacturers in the age of free trade.
“Despite different types of obstacles and unfavourable environment, the entrepreneurs of Bangladesh have survived and continued running their businesses even during the Covid-19 pandemic period.”
He placed emphasis on massive research and innovation activities involving youths for Bangladeshi companies to cope with the requirements of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
However, he does not buy into the hype that Artificial Intelligence or machine learning will affect employment in Bangladesh, as he believes many jobs still exist that require a human hand.
The FBCCI president also focused on increasing domestic rearing of chicken, pigeons, cows, and goats which will help to meet a large portion of the consumption demand for eggs, milk, and meat.
It is not possible to supply ready-made products, eggs, meat, milk, and other essential items to everyone, he said. Some people have to develop self-dependency when it comes to agricultural items, he pointed out.
