The Ministry of Commerce will launch a $40 million new fund tomorrow under the Export Competitiveness for Jobs (EC4J) project for infrastructure investments in order to create around 90,000 fresh jobs and to boost export of leather and leather goods, footwear, plastics and light engineering sectors.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi will remain present as chief guest at the launching ceremony of the fund through virtual platform while Commerce Secretary Md Jafar Uddin, representative from the World Bank and business leaders from the concerned sectors will join the virtual launching on Wednesday.
The announcement came from a knowledge sharing workshop on “Public Investment Facility for Infrastructure Constraints (PIFIC)” held at the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) Auditorium in the capital Tuesday.
EC4J Project Director and Commerce Ministry Additional Secretary Md Obaidul Azam spoke at the workshop as chief guest.
EC4J Project Director-3 Sheikh Mohammad Abdur Rahman gave the welcome address while EC4J project manager Md Lutfor Rahman made a power-point presentation on PIFIC.
PIFIC team leader Shobuz A Ikbal, ERF President Sharmin Rinvi and general secretary Rashidul Islam spoke on the occasion.
Highlighting the main project objectives and the possible outcomes of this fund, Azam said they are targeting to turn some 250 local firms, representing these four targeted sectors, into international standard.
Besides, he hoped that once the project is implemented, around 90,000 fresh jobs would be generated directly from these four sectors.
Replying to a query, the EC4J project director said these four sectors were selected based on a study conducted by the Word Bank as these have high potentials.
Apart from this, he informed that work is on to frame a separate such kind of investment project to incorporate the jute and agro processing sectors to further explore their potentials.
Replying to another question, Azam said they are expecting that most of the fresh job opportunities in these sectors would be grabbed mainly by the local human resources.
He also hoped that through implementation of this project, the export volume in the four targeted sectors would increase significantly.
The Commerce Ministry Additional Secretary also informed that an $8 million fund would be formed under the project as part of COVID-19 protection measures.
Beyond these four sectors, Azam revealed that those who would manufacture medical equipments and masks for facing the COVID-19 pandemic would get grants from this fund.
As the project period progresses, PIFIC now seeks funding proposals for infrastructure investments in these four sectors. PIFIC is a significant component of the ‘Export Competitiveness for Jobs’ (EC4J) project adopted by the Ministry of Commerce.
PIFIC has approximately $40 million available in grants and technical assistance, which is expected to cover 15-20 infrastructure projects within industrial clusters around the country.
The types of projects for which investment grants are available include water treatment plants and upgraded water connections in an industrial area, waste recycling facilities in public-private joint ventures, specialized warehouses, last-mile transmission of electric power, and enhanced local connectivity etc.
It also includes upgraded telecom connectivity, upgraded access roads, service centers in clusters and industrial parks related general facilities etc. This grant will only be applicable when at least a cluster of industries will benefit from it and not for the benefit of a single industry.
The purpose is to remove infrastructural barriers to increase productivity and export-capacity in the above four potential sectors for growth of production, employment and exports. To this end, PIFIC is accepting applications from industrial associations, business groups, or consortiums of industrial clusters.
Processing of Applications:
Suitable applications for financing infrastructure investment will be selected by PIFIC. Upon such selection, it will also provide guidance and actively assist the nominated candidates in formulating a complete project proposal.
Services provided by the PIFIC program will include feasibility study, project evaluation, technical design, preparation of procurement document and monitoring service during project implementation period. Subsequently, all these agreements will be continued under the EC4J project.
Leather products, footwear (leather and non-leather), plastic, and light engineering industries have been selected on a priority basis in the country’s Export Policy and the Seventh Five-Year Plan.
If the PIFIC program is successfully implemented, these potential sectors will contribute to the implementation of the country’s export diversification plan, and will facilitate access to international markets.
Source: BSS
