The light engineering sector could manufacture many more engineering products saving the use of foreign exchange in buying similar imported goods if the sector was provided with policy support and other facilities, entrepreneurs and bankers said.
The government and private entrepreneurs need to work together to develop the sector as the domestic market is growing day by day, they said. The sector can also create huge employment for educated youths, they claimed.
'If proper support is provided, light engineering industries will be able to manufacture better products at prices competitive to China and other counties as our labour costs are low,' Aminul Islam, teacher of materials metallurgical in Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, told New Age.
Light engineering industries produce a wide range of products for different industries.
Abdur Razzaque, president of the Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners' Association, said that entrepreneurs need easy, collateral-free bank loan at an interest rate no higher that 9 per cent as light engineering industries belong to the SME category.
The government should develop industrial parks with all facilities for the sector, he said.
Abul Hashim, owner of the Nipun Engineering, said that the government should take tax measures that would support local light engineering initiatives.
Syed Ehsanul Karim, director of the Bangladesh Institute of Technical Assistance Centre, said that BITAC or polytechnic students would be interested in working in the light engineering sector if advanced technology was provided and the owners ensured a sustainable environment.
The BRAC Bank's head of SME Syed Faridul Islam told New Age that the entrepreneurs need to upgrade technology and maintain their financial accounts properly which will help them to get bank loans.
He suggested that the government should provide assistance so that the factories can be technologically upgraded.
Light engineering industries are engaged in the production and manufacturing of highly value-added engineering goods and services with an annual turnover of more than Tk 10,000 crore, according to the Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners' Association.
About two million people are dependent on this sector which accounts for about 2 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.
Asked about the lack of policy support for light engineering industries, the industries minister, Dilip Barua, told New Age that the government had decided to set up a separate light engineering industrial park.
The government is planning to provide people working in light engineering industries with training to improve their skills and loans to help the sector to compete on the international market, he said.
Source : New Age
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