Jagaran Chakma

The ceramics industry has been desperately seeking respite from a spate of crises in recent months, but their woes have only deepened due to a worsening gas crisis.

An increasing number of foreign nationals are seeking permits to work in Bangladesh because of a lack of skilled managers and an education system not tailored to meet industrialisation in the country.

There was an expectation that investment inflows from China to Bangladesh would increase substantially following the Covid-19 pandemic as investors in China were looking for an alternative manufacturing hub.

High-quality cancer drugs are produced in Bangladesh. Oncologists and physicians are also available. However, the country is lagging in putting in place an adequate number of full-fledged facilities to treat patients suffering from such diseases.

The pharmaceutical sector of Bangladesh has achieved many milestones over the past 14 years. Not only do local companies now meet 90 percent of the country’s demand for medicines, but the products are also exported to around 150 countries, fetching hundreds of millions of dollars.

Construction of the Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone (CEIZ) in Chattogram has not started despite eight years having passed since the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza) first took the initiative to build the enclave in a bid to attract foreign investment.

Bangladesh will seek fresh loans amounting to $20 billion during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to China, which Beijing hopes would be a “game changer” in the bilateral relationship.

There is a common allegation that the actual implementation costs of government projects inevitably exceed the estimated costs due to a number of reasons, including time extensions and unnecessary expenditures.

Talks on Chinese loan proposals will be at the fore during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to Beijing.

Implementation of the budgetary proposal to phase out a tax holiday for investors and developers of private economic zones (EZs) will be a violation of agreements signed over developing the zones, according to the Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the need for initiating operations fast at two special economic zones (SEZs) meant for Indian companies on meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina in Delhi on June 22.

The government’s target in the proposed budget for 2024-25 on increasing private sector investment is ambitious and will be difficult to achieve, said businesspeople and experts citing high bank interest rates and a shortage of US dollars.

Sales of refrigerators and chest freezers declined by 13 percent ahead of Eid-ul-Azha as consumers contended with persistent inflationary pressures as well as an increase in the prices of the home appliances, according to industry players.

Seeing the huge potential in agriculture, the government is implementing a Tk 211.84 crore project in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region to introduce modern technologies and enhance research initiatives with a view to promoting coffee and cashew nut cultivation.

“You are being transferred to the Chittagong Hill Tracts.”

The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) has identified 814 more factories as risky under a countrywide initiative as the government looks to prevent avoidable fire incidents and other disasters.

Full-scale rawhide procurement across the country has yet to begin due to rainfall and subsequent delays in animal sacrifices.

The government needs to provide guarantees against an increasing amount of loans of state-owned enterprises every fiscal year, especially for power generation, fertiliser and fuel imports, and aircraft purchases.

Currently, investors in the EZs and hi-tech parks qualify for a tax break for a decade starting from the first year of their operations. They are entitled to a full tax waiver in the first three years.

The proposed budget for 2024-25 lacks creativity and offers no solutions to the many complex challenges facing the country’s economy, economists have said.