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He was addressing at a webinar on 'Post COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities for Entrepreneurship and Employment in Agro-based Industry' held on Saturday evening as the chief guest.
It was jointly organized by Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and France Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCIFB).
The Principal Secretary informed that the government is implementing a credit guarantee scheme covering all agro-based production and processing, including aquaculture and livestock to support commercial and entrepreneurial agriculture, especially to meet the credit needs of SMEs, according to CCIEB.
He further said that a special program has been approved by the Prime Minister for developing the food processing sector that will increase the contribution of agriculture to economic growth, employment and export.
In response to the proposal made by Director of Business France Eric Fajole, the Principal Secretary commented that Bangladesh welcomes foreign collaboration including foreign investments in R&D and agro-based processing and also emphasized that Bangladesh believes in balanced trade cooperation between the countries.
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President of CCIFB Syed Mahmudul Huq said that agriculture in Bangladesh played the most important role in providing food security, creating jobs, generating income and reducing poverty since the independence.
Currently, the share of agriculture in GDP is around 13 percent, while its share in employment is close to 40 percent indicating a much lower agricultural productivity.
He said the pandemic has further aggravated the situation with the migration of urban jobless workers and the overseas returning workers to the rural areas. In times of crisis, agriculture has always been the shock absorber—the saviour.
"Whenever a crisis struck, as in the ongoing pandemic, we have returned to agriculture—for food and for livelihoods. He emphasized on the combined efforts of the Government, the industry and the academia to make agriculture not only as the guarantor of food security; but also, it emerges as engine of growth for overall economy," Huq said.
AKM Hafizullah Khan, Project Director, Entrepreneurship & Skill Development Project (ESDP), BIDA gave an overview of BIDA’s initiatives to promote employment and entrepreneurship under their Entrepreneurship & Skill Development Project.
He said that they would like to carry out training programs on regulatory regime and business procedures to create entrepreneurs under the project in all 64 districts within next two years to achieve the target of private investments up to 34% of GDP by the end of 7th Five Year Plan.
Emeritus Professor Dr. Sattar Mandal led the discussions on role of agro-based industry in addressing the challenges and harnessing the opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment in post COVID-19.
The panel of discussants in the webinar included Dr. F. H. Ansarey, Managing Director & CEO, ACI Agribusinesses, ACI Limited, Moshiur Rahman, Managing Director Paragon Group, Fawzia Yasmeen, Director, Ispahani Agro Limited, Dr. Md. Saleh Ahmed, Chairman, KERNEL Foundation and former Consultant of World Bank and FAO, Dr. Asif Naimur Rashid, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Robi Axiata Limited, Md. Ashraful Alam, Country Project Coordinator, Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformation (SHIFT), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Eric Fajole, Director, Business France for South Asia and Dr. Mahfuzuddin Ahmed, former Adviser and Chief, Rural Development and Food Security, Asian Development Bank and former Director, World Fish.
The panelists call for creating an enabling environment for investments in digital/ smart agriculture and internet-plus rural infrastructure and communication to boost knowledge intensity and efficiency in production, processing, strengthening linkage between primary production and agro-processing and delivery of social, financial and technical services in rural areas.
They said job creation target for the sector should have a balanced mix so that the modernization of the sector goes hand in hand with generation of job opportunities all along the value chains in the different sub-sectors of agriculture.
They called for investment in diploma and vocational education, and skills development to equip potential agricultural work-force, farmers, service providers and processors with new knowledge and skills; and revamping agricultural tertiary education curricula and pedagogy to promote academia and agro-industry partnership in R&D, internship and idea competition, and incubation and start-up programs for innovation, among others.
They also called for prioritization of agro-processing and export diversification by creating production and processing zones for important agriculture and aquaculture export products through spatial planning and mapping, correcting existing mismatch and complexities of regulatory policies in importing raw materials and equipment for agro-industries, attracting further domestic and foreign corporate investments in primary production, processing and value additions, and (creating platforms for public private cooperation in branding and marketing of agro-products in export markets.
BIDA Executive Chairman Md. Sirazul Islam reiterated BIDA’s commitment to work with agro-industry stakeholders to increase investment and employment in agro-based industries.
BIDA, with active support from PMO, will convene policy dialogues, formulate actions and facilitate the agro-industrial transformation in coordination with key stakeholders in the government and private sectors.
A high-level committee headed by PMO and coordinated by BIDA may be formed to advise on the future course of actions for developing the agro-based production, processing, value addition and marketing, said France Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Shah Syed Kamal, Chairman, Policy & Advocacy Sub-Committee, CCIFB offered vote of thanks.