Bangladesh will have within a decade a sizable industrial sector where manufacturing will account for at least 25 per cent of the GDP and at least 20 per cent of the employed workforce. This will mean a considerable rise from the figure of 10 per cent around which the sector's share in GDP and employed population have hovered for most of the past two decades.
A vibrant and dynamic private sector will be the principal actor in Bangladesh's industrial arena. The industrial sector of Bangladesh will be competitive in the liberalized internal market as well as in the external market. The industrial sector of Bangladesh shall have a dominant export orientation.
The goal of external competitiveness implies the pursuit of industrialization in accordance with the dynamic comparative advantage of the economy. Given Bangladesh's resource endowment, the principle of dynamic comparative advantage means production of labor intensive manufactures with skill up-gradation and productivity growth as its cutting edge. This however, does not preclude the possibility of Bangladesh having a niche high-tech industrial sub-sector that may be externally competitive.
Dispersal of small and medium industries will constitute an important element in the industrial policy approach. Industrial development will be sustainable from the point of view of environmental concerns and resource availability.
Industrial Policy 1999 aims at addressing these concerns building on earlier efforts and gains towards industrialization of Bangladesh economy.
INFRASTRUCTURAL FACILITIES AND UTILITY SERVICES IN BANGLADESH
GENERAL:
The investors will, in general, find the infrastructural facilities and utility services available in Bangladesh to be adequate. Bangladesh is now trying to establish itself as the next rising star in South Asia as a location for foreign investment. The government has implemented a number of policy reforms designed to create a more open and competitive climate for private investment, both foreign and domestic. The issues relating to infrastructural facilities and utility services have been given high priorities in those policy reforms and implementations.