Kamal foresees double digit growth within next 5 years

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today said Bangladesh would achieve a double-digit growth within the next five years while a vast scope is here to make profit in a larger scale utilizing on its investment-friendly environment and attractive stimulus.

“On completion of the Padma Bridge, the country will see one percent GDP growth while the other ongoing mega projects will generate the rest of the expected growth,” he said.

The Finance Minister said this while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural session of a two-day conference of Asian Development Bank (ADB) titled “Harnessing Blockchain Technology for Development” at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in Dhaka.

Earlier this month, the ADB projected eight percent GDP growth for Bangladesh for the current fiscal year (FY20).

Prime Minister’s Advisor for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury spoke on the occasion as special guest. The Economic Relations Division (ERD) Acting Secretary Farida Nasreen delivered the opening remarks while ADB Country Director Manmohan Parkash gave the welcome speech.

Underscoring the need for giving due importance on innovation, Kamal said there is a need to bring newer technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and nano-technology.

He opined that a huge scope is there in Bangladesh to make profit in a larger scale through capitalizing on the best investment-friendly environment and attractive stimulus prevailing among the South Asian countries.

The Finance Minister said Bangladesh would continue to enjoy the demographic dividend till 2030 while Bangladesh is being positioned in a geographically strategic location among China, India and other growing economies of Asia.

He said the geographical location of Bangladesh has turned the country into a center of regional communication, foreign investment and global outsourcing and for this it is not possible to gain overall progress of the globe sidetracking Bangladesh.

By 2024, Bangladesh would be among those countries which would make significant contributions to global GDP growth as by then the country would make its place among the top 20 countries in the world in this regard, Kamal said.

Noting that Bangladesh is gaining growth in an unbelievable pace, he said wealth does not attract Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as she has been working tirelessly for the betterment of common people through gaining their love and affection.

He also renewed the government’s vow to turn Bangladesh into a hunger and poverty free country within the next decade by 2030.

The Finance Minister also urged the foreign investors to invest more in Bangladesh. “You can use Bangladesh as a safe place for investment. The production cost here is lower than other countries. Besides, there’s a location advantage too.” The speakers at the international conference called
for harnessing Blockchain technology to further promote growth, inclusion, service delivery and smart governance in Bangladesh.

ADB Country Director Manmohan Parkash said Blockchain is a cutting-edge high-level creative technology that can revolutionize many areas of modern life by improving transparency, accountability and efficiency in service delivery, governance, finance sector, industries, trade and other areas.

“Through this international conference, we want to introduce the blockchain technology, inspire dialogues among stakeholders and identify areas where the technology can be used to unleash the growth potential of the country,” he added.

He said the burgeoning IT industry, well-educated youths, vibrant private sector, as well as the government can immensely benefit by the early adoption of home-grown Blockchain technology solutions to resolve problems, create new startups and jobs, attract investments from technology companies and develop world class business environment.

Experts from Australia, India, Sweden and The United States of America (USA) attended the event along with policy makers, senior officials, private sector leaders and technology experts from Bangladesh.

The international conference aims to unleash the potential of Bangladesh for Blockchain applications.

It also provides a venue to conduct dialogues with government, private sectors and academia to introduce the blockchain technology, and to identify areas where the technology can be used to unleash the growth potential of the country.