Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) and Prime Minister’s Office jointly organised the Logistics Infrastructure Development Working Committee meeting on 13 November 2021. The virtual meeting was co-chaired by Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office, and Abul Kasem Khan, Chairperson of BUILD.
Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah started by attesting that Bangladesh cannot move forward without supporting the private sector during this worldwide economic transition period. He added, “Private Sector is the engine of growth for Bangladesh,” He said logistics needs more investment, and the existing policy needs reforms so that more investment is made. He recommended that the sector should be based on technology and skill. Adding that the private sector should also assist with value-backed data, he emphasised advocacy for logistics. He maintained that the most apposite in these times policy-wise would be to have a structured policy framework that may steer regulatory reforms as well as policy interventions, paving the way for a “logistics environment”.
Abul Kasem Khan, Chairperson of BUILD, informed that developing countries invest 9-10% of their GDP in improving their logistics environment. Success stories of China, India, and Vietnam stand out as best practices in logistics. The return on investment is one of the highest in the world. Structural reform is required to mitigate key bottlenecks of the logistics system in Bangladesh. The logistics sector should be declared as a thrust sector besides a high priority sector, and proper incentives should be declared to attract local and foreign investment.
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