Daily sun, July 20 2012
The country’s emerging middle class has immense potential to help accelerate industrialisation in the country, noted economist Prof Abul Barkat said here on Thursday.
He said the middle class can play a splendid role in expanding the domestic consumer market, especially for the durable industrial products.
“We’ve the bottom of the pyramid – the poor – and on top of the pyramid – the rich, in between the middle class which is emerging in this country,” Barkat, also the President of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), said while addressing a seminar, titled ‘Strong Potential of Domestic Consumer Market and Future Challenges of Strategic Industries in Bangladesh.’
He said the country’s growing middle class has enormous power of consumption and with this spending the domestic market size can be expanded further resulting in increased real investment, employment, productivity and savings.
On economy, Prof Barakat said, “Bangladesh isn’t a weak economy rather it’s a stable economy. Forex reserve in the last 40 years increased by 40 times while remittance by 540 times. So this isn’t a weak economy.”
He said the real remittance inflow would be US$ 24 billion though the official figure shows US$ 12 billion. “The equivalent amount to official figure comes through Hundi, not through banking channel.”
Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Company Ltd, World Business Associates Company Limited and Human Development Research Center jointly arranged the seminar in cooperation with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro).
Additional Secretary of Industries Ministry ABM Khorshed Alam spoke as the chief guest in the inaugural session.
Acting FBCCI president M Jashim Uddin and Deputy Director, South Asia Division, Jica Ishizuka Kenji, among others, addressed the seminar.
Khorshed urged the local entrepreneurs to give attention to the development of domestic industrialisation to cut import dependence. “We didn’t give enough importance to our domestic market and industry…that’s why our domestic market is dominated by imported products,” he said.
He suggested the businesspeople to import raw materials instead of finished products to help generate employments and reduce import-bill burden. —UNB
Bangladesh Economy 
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