The International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICC-B) has stressed the need for timely implementation of annual development programme (ADP).

“The ADP for FY11 includes 21.2 percent for overall agriculture, 15.78 per cent for power and energy, 15 per cent for communications and 24.2 per cent for human resources. The development priorities of the government is in the right direction. But, all depends on how much resources are available and what percentage of ADP is implemented,” the Editorial of the News Bulletin of ICCB released Sunday said.

FY10 ADP was revised to Tk 285,000 million from Tk 305,000 million which shows only 68 per cent of the total sum was disbursed in first 11 months.

“The implementation of ADP was only 61 per cent in the last three fiscal years (FY 07 – FY 09). The Finance Minister, in his post-budget press conference, said that the government would ensure cent-per-cent implementation of FY10 ADP, which is very unlikely according to experts,” the ICCB said.

The energy sector road map aims at importing LNG within next two years through building two LNG terminals to handle import of 500 million cubic feet (MMCFD) per day. At least US$1b investment with a time frame of 4-5 years would be required for this, according to experts. Will import of 500MMCFD gas justify such costly investment, when Chevron alone just now is ready to increase gas supply by 300MMCFD if transmission facilities are available? Besides, country,s existing gas fields Titas, Habiganj and Bakhrabad can also add 500MMCFD, if developed to full potential.

The plan also include setting up two 1300 MW capacity power plants with imported coal at Khulna and Chittagong. Experts opined that these will also be difficult and time consuming as Bangladesh does not have the port facilities to receive ocean going coal carriers and to store huge coal.

To diversify energy sources, Vietnam is going to set up a 600 megawatt coal fired power plant at a cost of US$1.2 b with Japanese aid which will be completed after four years in 2014. So why not Bangladesh do the same by immediate exploration of coal through open pit system for power plants as suggested by experts during ICC Conference on Energy for Growth held in Dhaka on April 13 last.

Development of infrastructure like highways, Padma bridge, elevated expressway for Dhaka, railway reforms & expansion, enhancing waterways navigability and capacity enhancement of Chittagong and Mongla Port etc. are very crucial for a sustained growth. According to analysts, GDP growth will depend largely on how soon communication projects, for which 15 % earmarked in ADP, are implemented.

Bangladesh being a riverine country has the unique opportunity to develop better and efficient water transport system, to ease the traffic congestion not only in Dhaka but also reduce pressure on the highways. Unfortunately, successive governments have failed to develop an appropriate waterway system.

FY 11 budget deficit is around 5 per cent of GDP, two percent will be met from external sources and three percent form domestic sources. The government plans to borrow two per cent of GDP from banking sources, indicating possible liquidity shortage of the commercial banks for the private sector.

The market capitalization, where the present daily trading is more than Tk.2 billion, rose to 34.2 per cent of GDP in April this year and BO (Beneficiary Accounts) have increased to more than 2.5 million. According to experts capital market could be an alternate source for the government to reduce deficit and raise the necessary fund required for infrastructure projects. Immediate divesting of shares of major SoEs, including banks, Biman, Jamuna Bridge, Railway, Padma Bridge etc. must be done. The proposed Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund (BIFF) could also raise necessary capital to finance all infrastructure projects.

According to a recent study by BUET Professor Ijaz Hossain Bangladesh,s energy crunch causes loss of around US $16.6 billion per year, which is about 16.6 per cent of US$100 billion GDP and higher than the total yearly export. The figure would probably be double if loss due to existing traffic jam is added.

The businesses, therefore, strongly suggest immediate open pit coal mining with setting up power plants and replacement/modernization of the existing power plants. With timely implementation of major infrastructure projects, Bangladesh could easily achieve eight percent plus GDP in 2012, as mentioned by the Finance Minister.

“As time is running out fast , there is need for more action and less talks and thinking to capitalize on the bright prospect of attracting both local and FDIs,” the ICCB said.