Home ›› 22 Oct 2022 ›› Nation
More investment, including foreign ones, towards agriculture and its processing sector in the region can be the best way of making the sector more value-added and vibrant.
Masudur Rahman, President of the Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said adequate investment in the potential sector can also contribute a lot to vibrating the region’s economic condition.
In an exclusive interview at his office on Wednesday, he said the region’s agricultural sector will fetch an unprecedented success if the investment were enhanced substantially.
In this context, he attributed that the under-construction Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib High-tech Park here could be one of the effective means of flourishing the agro-based economy.
The Prospect of agro-processing enterprises is bright in the region as it produces surplus crops especially food grains, fruits and vegetables.
Vegetables like potato, cauliflower, tomato, white gourd, bean, spinach, spinach, pea and baby corn are produced in the region in large amounts side by side with broccoli, carrot, celery, capsicum and strawberry.
Chamber leader Rahman said the time has come to consider the issue of foreign investment in Rajshahi’s agriculture together with finding out the existing problems and prospects and reasonable solutions in this regard.
He viewed that farmers-friendly banking has become crucial for accelerating the agro-based economy thereby the agricultural products can enrich the export list more besides minimising the existing gap between export and import.
Rahman mentioned that the Bangabandhu Multipurpose Jamuna Bridge contributes a lot to improving communication in the region, creating wider scopes for increased production of cereals, fruits, vegetables and livestock over the years.
In fact, this has opened up many opportunities for agro-business in the region.
The chamber leader called for upgrading the Rajshahi Airport, making it an outlet for directly exporting processed agri-products, fresh vegetables and fruits to different Middle Eastern and European countries
He termed industrialisation as the most relevant indicator of the region’s progress and prosperity.
The present government under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is committed to flourishing the business sector.
So, all the public and private sectors concerned should come forward and work together to supplement the government endeavours of the balanced development of the country.
Quoting various research findings and official records, agriculturist Rabiul Alam, executive director of the Agriculture Sustainable and Socio-Economic Development Organisation (ASSEDO), here said the overall volume of total foreign investment in Rajshahi is very negligible
