Businesses voice concern over state of law and order

Businesses have voiced concerns about the state of law and order in industrial areas, which has not improved to the level they had anticipated, even though the interim government has been in office for three and a half months.

At the same time, the energy and power crises are making things extremely difficult for businesses, impeding production.

They made the comments at a business conference on "Private sector outlook: expectations and priorities" organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka today.

"Instability in industries is not desirable in any way, so there should be a roadmap with a specific time frame for improving the law-and-order situation," Abdul Muktadir, chairman and managing director of Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd, said while addressing the event.

Although Bangladesh has recently faced challenging times, some positive initiatives have been undertaken during this period, which are expected to yield good results, he said.

High import duties have affected the businesses and small traders are also bearing the brunt, Muktadir said.

Businesses will benefit if the law-and-order situation in the country improves, said Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman and CEO of Pran-RFL Group.

Chowdhury claimed that he could not open letters of credit to import raw materials, which would disrupt employment and production in his factories.

He proposed leveraging new technologies to boost agricultural production and issuing partial bonds to facilitate the import of raw materials.

The Pran chairman also stressed the need to reduce loan interest rates.