Secretary to Industries Ministry Zakia Sultana has called for promoting the light engineering sector with targeted action plans.
She made the call at the 8th meeting of the SME Development Working Committee organised by Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) in the capital on Monday.
Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO of BUILD, presented an analysis ‘Light Engineering Industry Development Policy 2022’ at the meeting where Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mahbub Alam also attended.
Secretary Zakia said, “We would extensively support the light engineering sector while exploring ways to set up a separate industrial park in BSCIC for the sector and giving special incentives to the sector that shares the domestic market worth $12 billion.”
Addressing the need for promoting grassroots entrepreneurs of the sector and getting them on board, she said they would set out specific priorities in line with the Light Engineering Policy, which can be achieved at the earliest.
Echoing the policy's objectives put up in the BUILD keynote and focusing on 4IR and ICT, the secretary informed that the ministry concerned has already been working to promote the sector following the agenda of SMART Bangladesh as per the vision of the premier.
“While we have policies in place, without aligned action plans, we go nowhere. So, we will be setting out targeted actions that truly facilitate small entrepreneurs and hugely contribute to the employment generation and eventually export, and greening the sector is our top priority,” she said.
CEO Ferdaus said, “Only five countries namely China, USA, India, Singapore and Japan import about $2.51 trillion, and Bangladesh enjoys market access in all these destinations, and 1 per cent port at least 1 per cent to these places, we can export about $25 billion from the sector”.
She urged the ministry to consider a dedicated industrial park, and industrial cluster, an e-commerce platform for LE entrepreneurs, re-skilling and up-skilling to form a technologically skilled workforce, enforcement of AI, rationalisation of raw material import duty and encourage TT export, strategy to attract domestic and foreign investment to organise the sector.
The CEO recommended setting a year-wise GDP and export target along with a well-defined action plan to implement development strategies for this sector while appreciating the ministry for inclusion of the logistics sector as the high-priority sector, and 4IR and ICT in the recent Industrial Policy formulated by MOI.
Referring to different policies where the importance of LE has been highlighted, she informed about the LE Road Map prepared by BUILD for MoC, where the export projection for the sector in 2030 is $12.56 billion, with specific action plans that need supportive financing for implementation.
Dr Md Mafizur Rahman, managing director of SME Foundation, Mohammad Monjurul Islam, additional director of Bangladesh Bank, Dr Nadia Binte Amin, president of WEND, Manzur Ahmed, adviser of FBCCI and Abdul Amin, director of Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners Association (BEIOA) among others spoke at the meeting.
