Bangladesh can turn into an export powerhouse if it can get its act together and grab the potential opportunities, leaders of International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICCB) yesterday said.

The ICCB leaders made the remarks at the 16th Annual Council of the chamber at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city, said a press release.

First of all, a big opportunity is unraveling right in our neighborhood. With wages rising, China is fast becoming uncompetitive in most of its labor-intensive exports, such as textiles, shoes, furniture, toys, electrical goods, car parts, plastic products, kitchenware, and a host of other consumer goods, said ICCB President Mahbubur Rahman while presenting the report of ICCBs executive board during the function.

Foreign investors in these sectors are searching hard for alternative locations to set up industries, he said.

The conference expressed deep shock at the huge loss of life and properties due to the unprecedented massive earthquake followed by tsunami in Japan.

The earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan have put pressure on the already fragile global economy with reduced supplies of goods from computer chips to auto parts and raised apprehension of higher interest rates, the news release added.

On the stock market crash, ICC Bangladesh President said the regulators had apparently tried to prevent market overheating to regulate volatility.

Sensing irregularity in the book-building method for IPOs, the practice was temporarily halted. There have been complaints of market manipulation; the report of the inquiry committee set up to look into this matter provides some clues to what really happened, Mahbubur Rahman said.

The full story is yet to be unfolded. He cautioned that the business sector is facing severe problems arising out of the liquidity crisis in the banks. This is regarded as a serious problem for the operation of business, and for the establishment of new manufacturing units. For the future of the economy, particularly for the private sector, it is vital that the banks resume their normal support to business, he added.

In the backdrop of the dual track recovery of the global economic environment, Bangladesh economy in the early months of fiscal year 2010-11 demonstrated mixed signals. If we consider the first five months of the current fiscal year (2010-11), Bangladesh economy is on rebound. Besides, the country has experienced few positive indicators in several sectors, speakers at the council said.

But rising trend of inflation, upward trend in price of essential consumer items, unstable situation of capital market, fall in remittance inflow and infrastructural constraints did not give Bangladesh a chance to relax in the outgoing year (2010) although it has overcome the economic meltdown successfully. However, in the outgoing year the economy witnessed good performances in the fields of export earning and harvest of crops including boro and aman, the speakers observed.

Global Risk Report 2011 of the World Economic Forum provides a high level overview of 37 selected global risks in which two cross-cutting global risks are economic disparity and global governance failures, the “macroeconomic imbalances” nexus, the “illegal economy” nexus and the “water-food-energy” nexus, the council said.

Despite all hurdles, the ICCB leaders expressed hope that the country is now poised for a take-off stage and Bangladesh is expected to graduate from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) group to a middle income country by shortest possible time with proper infrastructure support.

Among others, ICCB Vice Presidents Latifur Rahman & Samson H. Chowdhury, Singer Bangladesh Chairman Mahbub Jamil, DCCI President Asif Ibrahim, CCCI President Murshed Murad Ibrahim, FBCCI First Vice President Md. Jashim Uddin, MCCI Vice President Nihad Kabir, BOC Managing Director Waliur Rahman Bhuiyan, OBE, Immediate Past President of BKMEA Md. Fazlul Hoque, Chairma of Bengal Fine Ceramics R. Maksud Khan, Former BGMEA President Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury (Parvez), Managing Director-Nestle Bangladesh Limited Laurent Therond, Managing Director of Green Delta Insurance Company Nasir A. Choudhury, Managing Director of Eastland Insurance Company M. Azmal Hoque, Managing Director of CONEXPO Limited Abu Alam Chowdhury, Managing Director of The Merchants Limited Mohd. Arshad Ali, Chairman & Managing Director of BASF Bangladesh Saria Sadique, Chairman of Financial Excellence Limited Dr.Sajjad Zohir as well as MDs/CEOs and senior officials of banks, insurance companies, national and multinational companies attended the Council.