Bangladesh’s economic model should focus on surplus from expenditure: commerce advisor

Standardisation is necessary to build industrial capacity, Bashir says

Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin believes Bangladesh’s economic model should focus on creating surplus from expenditure.

He pointed out that Bangladesh imports between $80 and $90 billion annually, including about $15 billion worth of food products and $12-$15 billion of fuel. The country also imports intermediate industrial goods and consumer products.

According to him, the ideal economic model should focus on generating surplus from spending. To build industrial capacity, standardisation is necessary, and temporary simplification may be required. Excessive diversity, he said, does not help in creating a strong industrial ecosystem.

He made these remarks at the closing ceremony of the two-day “Automobile and Agro-machinery Fair 2025: Road to Made in Bangladesh” in Dhaka's Tejgaon on Sunday afternoon.

The advisor added that despite being a $400 billion economy, Bangladesh struggles to generate surplus. “Excessive spending without considering resource adequacy prevents surplus,” he said, urging everyone to work sincerely to build a strong future economy by generating surplus from domestic capacity.

Bashir stressed the need to advance based on domestic capabilities, noting that policy support alone is not enough. “Except for the garments sector, no other sector in Bangladesh has benefited significantly from policy support,” he said.

He visited stalls at the fair and spoke with entrepreneurs afterwards.