‘Industrial sector slowly turning around’

Industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun
Industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud HumayunBSS

Industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said country’s industrial sector is slowly turning around for the implementation of five incentive packages of Taka 725 billion announced by prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

“The government has taken the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) sector as the main driving force of economic development. The entrepreneurs of CMSMEs are making significant contribution to the economy of the country,” BSS reports the minister as saying on Thursday .

The minister said this while speaking as the chief guest at a virtual discussion on ‘Towards an Entrepreneurial and Developed Bangladesh: CMSMEs as the Building Blocks for an Innovation and Knowledge Driven Economy’ in the city, said a press release.

Dhaka University Innovation Creativity and Entrepreneurship (ICE) Centre organised the discussion.

Dhaka University cice-chancellor professor Md Akhtaruzzaman presided over the discussion while secretary of the ministry of youth and sports Md Akhter Hossain, president of FBCCI Sheikh Fazle Fahim and resident representative of UNDP Bangladesh, Van Nguyen, joined the discussion as special guests.

As a result of COVID-19, Humayun said the CMSMEs sector has suffered severe losses and employment has been reduced here.

He said the historical memory of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is intertwined with the history of industrialisation of Bangladesh.

“Bangabandhu dreamed of making the country self-sufficient in industry by increasing the production capacity of import alternative industrial products at the grassroots level. To this end, he formed the East Pakistan Small Industries Corporation in 1958 when he was the industries minister of the then coalition government,” he added.

He said the contribution of the industrial sector to the national economy is getting stronger as a result of strengthening grassroots industrialisation activities through BSCIC.