Hasina averse to building industries on farmlands in Bangladesh

Bangladesh industries should be built within planned zones and not on lands for agriculture, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said.

She asked officials of the industries ministry to designate specific areas for factories during a visit on Sunday.

“It is not good that industries are popping up here and there. They are ruining arable land and the environment.

“If someone wants permission to build factories here and there, we must stop them,” she said.

“You must assign areas for these factories. The industries ministry will have to survey every district and mark these areas.”

She said those who want to invest should not be discouraged and be provided with benefits.

The government, she said, plans to ‘decentralise everything’, including the growth of industries.

“We’ve already announced our plans for special economic zones … seven for the seven divisions and in plenty of other areas.

“We can start our initiative there because we will build new power plants in those areas,” said the prime minister.

“The port Paira is being built. We’re buying submarines so we’ll also have to set up a base for it.”

She also informed that the government had been contemplating to shift the ship breaking industry from Chittagong’s Sitakunda to Barguna.

Prime minister also stated that nobody would be able to hinder Bangladesh’s progress if its resources were judiciously utilised.

“I am in politics only to make Bangladesh a develop and prosperous nation. To achieve this, industrialization is very vital. We will increase the industrial sector’s contribution in the GDP,” she added.

She also pointed out the initiatives taken by Bangabandhu for the industrialisation.

Justifying her government’s five-year and ten-year plans, she said no country could progress without long-term plans.

While pointing out the contribution of private sector in the development of the country, the prime minister in the same breath emphasised the need for public sector undertakings.

“We need private ventures. But if there is no government venture then there will be no regulation and quality control,” she said.

Prime minister said her government was giving equal importance to both the public and private sectors.

She said instead of disinvestment of public sector units, her government had taken initiative to rejuvenate them in a planned manner.

“We have taken a decision that under no circumstance we will ever sell off our assets. We have seen that by calling tenders land and other important assets were sold off at throwaway prices. This way we are losing our assets. We are getting lot of investment, we need land.

“We can develop the areas based on what were suitable there. If plotting can be done accordingly, we can take investors there. Since we need investment, we need to protect those areas.”

She said since Bangladesh is a populous country, the government’s industrial policy gave emphasis on the sectors which could engage more manpower.

In this context, she also suggested that more importance should be given to small, medium scale and cottage industries. At the same time, she also stressed on the need to give importance to uplift the living standard of the workers.

She directed that the works for shifting the leather units from Hazaribagh to Savar by setting ETPs should be expedited.

Besides, she also suggested that production of processed food should be increased to enhance export. She also called for diversification of export products.

While referring to the state-run automobile assembled industry, Pragati Industries, the prime minister said, “Income of the citizens has increased, their purchasing power has also increased. They can buy cars. But there is no car industry in the country. There is a big demand for it.”

Industry Minister Amir Hossain Amu also spoke on the occasion.