Business leaders on Tuesday said the previous government left Bangladesh in ruins and deep reforms and restructuring are must for the banking sector, revenue administration, education, and industry.
They have also assured that they will fully cooperate with the interim government.
The business community has also offered their support to the interim government in taking measures against money laundering and bank looters. They said that the people who built wealth illegally in the last decade are not real businessmen, they are the looters.
Business leaders made the comments while meeting with interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur.
“We are a witness to what happened over the last 15 years. The Bangladesh private sector is with you 100 per cent,” said International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICCB) President Mahbubur Rahman at the meeting with Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus in State Guest House Jamuna.
The business delegation, led by Mahbubur Rahman, greeted the chief adviser on his assumption of leadership of the interim government. The ICCB leaders urged the 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate to carry out much-needed reforms with haste to bring back stability in the economy.
Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus thanked them and said his administration inherited an economic mess, but he was confident the situation would soon improve with the introduction of vital reforms.
“It is a very hard situation that we are in now. But it is also the biggest opportunity that we can get. Our job is difficult, but very much doable,” he said.
The chief adviser said if Bangladesh, as a nation, could collectively get over the mess, "We will have the world’s attention. The world will look to us for inspiration, and the world will want to do more business with us," he said.
Dr Muhammad Yunus asked the delegation to think outside the box to achieve greatness as a nation saying, “If we can make the young people’s dream come true, we can make the nation’s dream come true.”
Senior business leaders including FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam, Tapan Chowdhury, Kutubuddin Ahmed, AK Azad, Simeen Rahman, Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, Naser Ezaz Bijoy, Fazlul Hoque and Mohammad Hatem attended the meeting.
Meeting with BB governor
Business leaders on Tuesday also urged Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur to take strict action against money launderers. They said the businessmen would support the governor and the government in taking action against the launderers.
This pledge came in a meeting between business leaders and Mansur on Tuesday at Motijheel. Thirteen leaders of various business organizations including FBCCI, MCCI, DCCI, BARVIDA and BKMEA participated in the meeting.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, former president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) Abdul Awal Mintoo said, “Those who laundered money and looted banks are not actually businessmen, as they have not created any wealth in the country.
“We have requested action against those who are committing crime, taking money from the banks and not returning it, not doing business. We have no objection to action being taken against the culprits. If this does not happen, the good businessmen will suffer in the future.”
FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam said, “We the business community, are always pro-economy. We will work for economic development, and we are with any good steps of the government for development of business and economy.”
Businessmen said they were speaking with the governor about the banking commission. A working group of seven members will be formed to run this commission. In that working group, there will be a FBCCI member as a representative of businesses.
Mahbub mentioned, “As a lot of money has been looted from several banks. So the governor told them it may take 6 or 9 months to fix the situation.”
Besides, the business leaders requested the governor to review the definition of loan classification. They urge to extend the loan instalment time at least 3, those will expire in September.
Business leaders have been requested to continue the supply of fuel, gas and essential commodities.
The businessmen said that the governor told them his main task is to reduce the high inflation. It will take at least 6 or 7 months to control this. Then he will start working on the interest rate.
They requested the governor to provide soft loans for the factories which are affected by the violence during July and August. Apart from this, traders have been requested to give a grace period to make up for the exchange loss.
BKMEA Executive President Mohammad Hatem told the reporters, “We informed the governor that various policies have been taken based on wrong economic data, and those should be reviewed.
“Besides, we also informed the governor that to cut the EDF fund export-import is hampering. Such funds should be increased. We also requested the state to review the cash subsidy against exports, which was halted based on the wrong export data.”
