PM stresses economic empowerment alongside political rights.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today said the state would become stronger only when its people are economically empowered, stressing the need to ensure economic capacity of citizens alongside political rights to build a strong and prosperous Bangladesh.
“Keeping ordinary people in hardship or silencing them cannot make a state strong. Political rights must go hand in hand with economic empowerment. To this end, the government will extend all necessary policy support to encourage domestic entrepreneurs to invest and create employment,” he said.
The Prime Minister made the remarks at a ceremony held today at the Cabinet Division of Bangladesh Secretariat marking the signing of lease agreements to reopen three closed state-owned jute mills under private management, said PM’s Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu.
The government signed lease agreements with two private business groups to reopen three long-closed state-owned jute mills with around Tk 619 crore in investment, creating at least 11,629 jobs and generating an estimated annual turnover of Tk 1,175 crore.
Under the agreements, PRAN-RFL Group will lease National Jute Mills Ltd in Sirajganj and Star Jute Mills Ltd in Khulna, while HAMCO Group will lease Platinum Jubilee Jute Mills Ltd in Khulna.
The Prime Minister said the government’s goal is to take the country to a stronger position economically and socially, and pledged necessary policy support to encourage local entrepreneurs to invest and create employment.
“If we can ensure the economic capacity of the people, the state becomes strong,” he said, emphasising the importance of creating opportunities for people to improve their livelihoods.
Promising to stand by genuine entrepreneurs, he said, “If we can support entrepreneurs, it will create employment and livelihood security for people on the one hand and improve the overall economic situation on the other.”
The Prime Minister said the government wants to build a country where everyone would be better off than they are today. “We want to build a country where everyone will be better off than they are now. This is our main goal and objective,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of domestic investment alongside foreign investment, Tarique Rahman said foreign investment would certainly come and the government wants it, but local investors and entrepreneurs must also be encouraged.
“We will provide as much policy support as necessary from the government to help them do business and make investments,” he said.
He said the government’s policies are aimed at creating opportunities for people from all walks of life, adding that the government is working with everyone’s cooperation to build a better and stronger country.
At the end of his speech, the Prime Minister thanked the two business groups for taking responsibility for the three jute mills and expressed hope that their new investments would succeed and contribute to the national economy by creating employment.
Commerce, Industries and Textiles and Jute Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir, State Minister for Textiles and Jute Md. Shariful Alam, Textiles and Jute Secretary Sharf Uddin Ahmed Choudhury, PRAN-RFL Group Chairman Ahsan Khan Chowdhury and HAMCO Group Managing Director A T M Mostafa also spoke at the programme.
The deputy press secretary said the three mills, which have remained closed for a long time, will be reopened under private management. Once operational, they are expected to generate at least 11,629 jobs, attract around Tk 619 crore in investment and achieve a combined annual turnover of about Tk 1,175 crore.
According to the agreements, around Tk 157 crore will be invested in National Jute Mills at Raipur in Sirajganj. The reopened mill is expected to create 5,238 jobs and generate an annual turnover of around Tk 500 crore.
Star Jute Mills in Dighlia, Khulna, will receive an investment of around Tk 250 crore. Its reopening is expected to create 5,238 jobs, with a targeted annual turnover of around Tk 500 crore.
Meanwhile, around Tk 212 crore will be invested in Platinum Jubilee Jute Mills in Khalishpur, Khulna. The mill is expected to create at least 1,153 jobs and generate an annual turnover of around Tk 175 crore.
The government has decided to reopen 20 of the 25 BJMC mills that remain closed under private management through leasing arrangements. So far, leases for 14 mills have been completed and possession handed over to the lessees, with production already resumed at nine of them.
Senior officials of BJMC and the lease-holding companies were also present on the occasion.
