Terming Bangladesh a ‘miracle of development’, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Friday said the country will turn into a middle-income one by 2021 if sector-specific initiatives are taken to boost industrial production.The minister made the remarks while addressing a seminar titled “Increased Production for Vision 2021” held at CIRDAP auditorium in the capital. The National Productivity Organisation (NPO) arranged the seminar to mark the National Productivity Day.Acting Industries Secretary Sushen Chandra Das chaired the seminar. Dr. Mohammad Nazrul Islam, Director of NPO, delivered the speech of welcome at the function. Dr. Khandakar Golam Moazzem, additional research director of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), presented the keynote paper at the function while AHM Rezaul Kabir, former environment and forest secretary, and industrial expert Rupali Biswash addressed the seminar among others. The minister said the government has been providing a wide range of services from its 5,247 digital centers to help different sectors boost their production. “Around 5 crore people joined the middle-income class from the lower income group in the last few years,” he said, expressing hope that poverty will come down to 10 percent by 2021.“To increase industrial productivity, the government has been working to set up new economic zones. The ECNEC has already approved a special economic zone for Chinese investors in Chittagong,” he added.Tofail also informed that a Chinese company will invest around $4 billion to establish a Garment Park in Munshiganj. While addressing the seminar, the speakers said there is no alternative to including the private sector into the industrial network properly to boost country’s industrial production. They also observed that though the workers have become more skilled over the years, the industrial sector still lags behind in technology. Production of China was lower than Bangladesh before 1995, but they are now one of the world’s largest industrial hubs as they focused on inclusion of private sector and workers into the mainstream industrial sector, the speakers told the function.Earlier, a colorful rally was brought out in the capital to mark the National Productivity Day.
