BSS, Dhaka :
Foreign products, especially manufactured goods, are gradually being replaced here with locally produced items, thanks to the country’s strong manufacturing base and the government’s policy support to grow local industries.
Once upon a time, foreign products used to dominate in Bangladesh for obvious reason as there was no alternative to relying on those products to meet local requirement but now the country is now shifting its position from the overdependence on those foreign goods.
In course of time, many local items such as Readymade Garment (RMG), shipbuilding, pharmaceutical, electronics, jute and jute goods, plastic, furniture, cement, ICT, agriculture and agro- processed foods are not only dominating in Bangladesh now but also surpassing foreign products.
Talking to BSS, Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Research Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said gradual expansion of local market in the light of increasing demand of necessary industrial goods is leading local industries to become export-oriented ones.
He cited examples of cement, electronic and pharmaceutical industries saying that at first those industries expanded here in local market and later those industries started exporting exportable to many countries.
Besides, he said, many industries especially shipbuilding one have developed targeting export market while dependence on foreign goods is on the fall as local industries are gradually becoming competitive. The government’s various policy supports are also helping to this end, he observed.
The financial analyst favoured establishment of a network and linkage with potential buyers to reach local industries to the international market and continues efforts to improve quality of products.
Instead of investment abroad, said CPD researcher, local entrepreneurs are investing here targeting the ever-changing taste and attitude of the people towards consumer goods and that is actually discouraging the presence of foreign products.
Talking to the news agency, SM Ashraful Alam, Managing Director of Walton Hi-Tech Industries Limited (WHIL), said, “We were confined to the production of refrigerator and television, but now we are concentrating on product diversification targeting refrigerator as our focus is to produce electrical accessories and small home appliances. A venture to this end is underway.”
Quality of Bangladeshi electronic products are now competitive and to some extent better than China’s ones. At the very onset Chinese investment appeared to be threatening for Bangladeshi investors but at present many electronic goods made in Bangladesh are exceeding Chinese products in terms of quality and price, he pointed out.
“When we started our business, we used to import basic materials such as chemicals for refrigerators spending huge foreign exchange, but now those products are now being produced in the country, said Walton MD.
“Once upon a time there had been a common perception that ‘big fishes eat up fish fries’ and if I say it more specifically ‘big companies devours small ones”, he said and looked back to 50 years ago when only seven to eight Japanese companies used to dominate, but now many small conglomerates are surpassing many giant companies.
Bangladesh is now on the way to cope with the world technologies, he said and hoped that the country has the potential to be a ‘capital of technology’ in the world if it is emerged in the global market attuning to the world’s ever-changing technologies, said Ashraf, whose company is now exporting electronic products to 17 countries.
Selim H Rahman, a leader of Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association (BFEA, said, “The replacement of foreign goods with local ones is definitely a positive sign and this credit goes to the large number of young entrepreneurs who are also diversifying their products.”
Bangladesh has the potential to export huge volume of furniture products subject to the cash incentive on export, said Rahman, also managing director of Hatil Complex and president of Bangladesh Furniture Industry Owners Association (BFIOA).
Shahedul Islam (Helal), a former president of Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA), said almost all goods need for daily life is now produced in Bangladesh.
That is why people of the country should think twice while purchasing foreign products spending hard-earned foreign currencies, said Helal, also managing director Bengal Pacific Ltd and a former president of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI).
Tariq-ul-Islam, Executive Director of Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd (ASSL), said the shifting of Bangladesh from foreign goods is a part of globalization and trade liberalization. He laid emphasis on expediting export diversification to give the local industrial base a fillip.
