Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed on September 14 called upon all including the members of the country’s business community to be united to build its future together so that the next generation of Bangladesh can achieve its full potential and take the nation to further heights of success, reports BSS.

From a developing country, the Chief Adviser said, Bangladesh can be a developed one by the year 2050 and added: “It can be done, it must be done and it will only be done if we pledge ourselves to working together.” Dr Fakhruddin said this while addressing a dialogue on “Public- private partnership for economic development: Bangladesh perspective.”

Bangladesh Better Business Forum (BBBF) and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) jointly organised the dialogue at Radisson Hotel in the city. The Chief Adviser is the Chairperson of the BBBF.

Finance and Planning Adviser and Executive Chairperson of BBBF, Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam, Chief of Army Staff and BBBF member General Moeen U Ahmed, BBBF members Mahbubur Rahman and Laila Kabir also spoke on the occasion while FBCCI President Annisul Huq moderated it.

A power-point presentation was made at the dialogue on the progress of the one-year activities of the BBBF and the Regulatory Reforms Commission (RRC). The Chief Adviser, the Finance Adviser and the Army Chief also responded to various questions raised by the businessmen. Advisers, Special Assistants to the Chief Adviser, high civil and military officials, diplomats and business body leaders attended the dialogue.

“It gives me great pleasure to attend the celebration marking the first anniversary of BBBF and RRC” Dr Fakhruddin said. It is time now for both individually and collectively as a nation to take more responsibility for a better future which will be free from poverty and hunger, he added.

The Chief Adviser said the BBBF has been formed as part of the efforts to ensure better cooperation between the private and the public sectors for the common interest of the entire nation. He said a sustainable better investment climate can only exist in the country, alongside a climate of better governance. Finance Adviser Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam said the country needs visionary businessmen for building a prosperous nation. Short-term profit maximisation should not be their only motive, he added.

Army Chief Gen Moeen U Ahmed said successful implementation of reform steps will help bring about an expected dynamism in national economic development. The drive against corruption has already brought back the image of the country, he noted.

The Army Chief suggested reviewing the price of the petroleum and petro-products, considering the recent decrease of its price in the international market.

Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said: “We as a nation have too often been divided, sometimes to the point of a standstill. Too often our national interest has been sacrificed to the limited interest of a few.” “If we are to fully realise our national potential, we must move beyond such divisions and unite together in common purpose”, he added.

The Chief Adviser said a better investment climate will make room for more and better investment that in turn lead to greater employment, better jobs and better wages. This itself creates a virtuous cycle, for citizens with better wages and jobs then become part of a market that can sustain more and deeper investment and the cycle can thereby perpetuate itself, he added.

The BBBF has made great strides over the past year, Dr Fakhruddin said and added there are now five groups working to address the five areas that affect all sectors and investment activities. “This approach has made it possible for new and large sectors in the economy to open up in future. We must remember that this partnership is new, so we are all learning and improving as we journey together,” he added. The private sector can directly participate in improving skills and education programmes which in turn will create a more productive workforce, he added.

Pointing to government’s initiative to roll out broadband across the country, Dr Fakhruddin said it can provide better communications at lower costs benefiting business operation. We also want to see better and less onerous regulation for businessmen and for citizens, he said and added the RRC and the BBBF can help achieve this goal.