A delegation of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, led by its president Amjad Khan Chowdhury, meets Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the premier's office in Dhaka yesterday. Photo: MCCIMetropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) also said the debacle has tarnished the image of the government to some extent.
"The recent drop in the stockmarket index needs to be evaluated and analysed judiciously," said the oldest trade body in a submission at a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office.
The prime minister called upon the MCCI leaders to take initiatives to increase the purchasing capacity of the people for expanding local markets of their commodities.
"People of the country will not be able to buy commodities manufactured by the local industries if their purchasing power is not increased," Hasina said.
MCCI also demanded punishment to the responsible persons for the recent stock debacle, after a proper investigation.
The MCCI said: "Bangladesh should focus on improving governance and developing advanced market products."
The trade body's observation came at a time when the stockmarket is trying to recover from the last month's collapse, depending on the government stimulus measures.
The plunge made many small investors bankrupt.
MCCI referred to the 1996 stock crash and said this year's incident also tarnished the image of the government to some extent.
The trade body also praised some government initiatives, including construction of 33 power plants of 2,941 MW and upgrading of Dhaka Chittagong Highway into four-lane to establish regional connectivity.
"Bangladesh can become an Asian commercial hub through better land, air and sea connectivity. However, creating public opinion is needed for effective implementation of the agreements," it said.
MCCI, however, said: "The government cannot alone do this job, it needs cooperation from all other political parties and civil society."
"Once dubbed as a bottomless basket, Bangladesh is now poised to become a middle-income country by 2021," said MCCI but added that GDP would need to grow at an annual rate of at least 8 percent in the next 10 years.
The chamber urged the government to build public opinion for implementations of agreements for improved regional cooperation and connectivity, signing of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with India, China and ASEAN, settle issues like market access with India.
The delegation, led by its newly elected President Amjad Khan Chowdhury, also wanted upgradation of capacity of standards institutions, appointment of bureaucrats in ministries with their specific field of specialisation, improvement in law and order situation, expansion of Open Market Sales points.
MCCI suggested the government avoid gas-based power plants due to their low conversion efficiency, and introduce cyclindered gas for households to reduce wastage.
The trade body urged the government to finalise the draft coal policy soon so that coal can be used to generate power.
"Relying on imported coal for our power generation will make our energy security dependent on foreign supply and the cost will be prohibitive," it said.
The MCCI praised the government initiative to build Padma Bridge but said a clear timeline for execution of different stages of this project is needed. To ensure effective utilisation of the bridge, it also suggested development of the Mongla Port.
The chamber said the public private partnership (PPP) model has a high potential to draw substantial investments.
It also called for a comprehensive PPP act.
"In our view, the complexity of the PPP mechanism demands that it be governed by a law rather than by executive guidelines," it added.
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