Bangladesh’s Growth in Commerce and Industry

Bangladesh is emerging as a thriving economy. The future looks bright. The overall economic growth of Bangladesh is rapidly improving. According to most of the finance experts, this growth will continue because of the facilities provided by the government. It is to be mentioned that the Government of Bangladesh, despite restrictions and hurdles, provides numerous attractive offers to the potential investors. This is apparently the foremost reason why foreign investors still show interest in Bangladesh.

Problems are there but since gaining independence in 1971, the economy of Bangladesh is growing. At that time, Bangladesh was already a top exporter of silk, sugar and textile. However, in the recent years, the country has gained an ample number of investors and companies.

The main source of economic prosperity of the country is the export-oriented companies, which are abundant in Bangladesh. The total estimate of the export-oriented economy during 1972-73 was approximately US $348.33 million. 90% of this amount came from the export section.

In recent years, Bangladesh has improved in the export sector. The country has also aimed to expand the import section with a view to increase the amount of capital available. Initially, the economy of Bangladesh was limited to export items, such as garments, vegetables, raw material and leather products. But the situation is very different now with a wide range of products.

Bangladesh has numerous successful companies both in the private and public sectors. The leading private sector companies include Square Group, Aftab Group, Transcom, ACI and Beximco. The economy has expanded due to export section to non-traditional items, which includes shrimps, finished leather products, newsprint paper, raw and dry fish, handicrafts, chemical fertilizer, naphtha, ceramic products, flowers, fresh fruits, vegetables and readymade garments.

The economy of Bangladesh increased to US $9,020 million in the year 2010-2011. By this time, Bangladesh witnessed a great change in her Export Sector. The quality of imported items became limited and of low cost, such as textile fabrics, raw cotton and cotton yarn, capital machinery, petroleum products, automobiles including accessories and spares, dyes and industrial chemicals, dairy-based food, pharmaceutical raw materials, coal, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, cement and edible-oil. The value of these imported items was predicted of US $11,525 million during the year 2010-2011. The Government of Bangladesh has achieved this success by improving various export facilities, changing tariff rates and by diminishing several non-tariff rates.  

This achievement has been possible by making certain changes in the government policies. The government has made excellent development in the infrastructure, investments and trade sectors of the country. The construction sector, which was the main drawback of the economy, is also rapidly developing now. The economy has become self-dependent in the construction sector also. In addition, the economy has moved towards success in other sectors like engineering and medicine. On the contrary, Bangladesh has restricted or banned the import of few products which are related to the country's security. These include defense equipments like arms and ammunition.

More incentives and facilities are provided to the potential foreign investors which make them interested. Most of the time, the government provides several facilities on tax and import duty. Taxes have been exempted for a minimum of five to seven years.