As the President of one of the oldest and most prestigious chambers of the country, it is my honor and immense pleasure to welcome everyone to the FICCI Quarterly Newsletter, May 2023. Since the beginning of publishing FICCI Newsletter, it has successfully become the platform to showcase the Chamber and its member companies’ stories and news to the relevant stakeholders. The core objective of this edition of the Newsletter is to promote chamber’s member companies by demonstrating the initiatives and activities they are currently practicing to support the government’s goal toward attaining the status of “Smart Bangladesh” by 2041.
Being the most esteemed business chamber for foreign investors in Bangladesh FICCI has stepped into completing 60th year of its glorious journey this year. The members of FICCI constantly play the role of catalyst of making the nation more trade friendly and attractive to the overseas investors. FICCI represents Foreign Investors from Thirty-five (35) countries across the globe in more than Twenty-one (21) sectors in Bangladesh. In its six decades of excellent journey, FICCI member companies are contributing around 30% internal revenue of the government and representing more than 90% inward FDI in Bangladesh.
We all are observing that despite the on-going deteriorating economic conditions worldwide, our Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is leading the country to reach her vision of ‘Smart Bangladesh’ From ‘Digital Bangladesh’ by 2041. FICCI’s member companies are aligned with the government’s goal and contributing more for the commu- nity and society which eventually support the country to attain the status of “Smart Bangladesh.”
Our Honorable Prime Minister’s long-term development plan “Smart Bangladesh” is a vision and policy to build a digitally enabled, smarter, and more sustainable country. It aims to harness the power of technology to upgrade the standard of life for all citizens, open up new economic opportunities, and accelerate sustainable development. Building ‘Smart Bangladesh’ by 2041, will be achieved by establishing four key pillars Smart Economy, Smart Citizen, Smart Society, and Smart Government by 2041.
As one of the leading chambers of the country, we always prioritize the thought-leadership process and work with the Government of Bangladesh as a partner for the growth and development of the country. We believe our entire organized effort will complement the government’s initiative to attain the vision of Smart Bangladesh. We decided to publish our upcoming newsletters including this edition focusing on each of the four pillars of Smart Bangladesh. With this aim, in this issue of the FICCI Newsletter, Volume-I, May 2023, we highlighted one important pillar ‘Smart Economy’ and set the theme “Smart Economy for Smart Bangladesh.”
We have incorporated our leaders' opinion, their companies' endeavors, CSR activities in this issue. We have showcased member companies’ contribution towards the development of the country and the potential sectors for investment further.
I would like to thank all the industry leaders and experts for their excellent contributions that greatly enriched the Newsletter. I also want to thank the patrons and sponsors of this FICCI Quarterly for their assistance and support. I would like to thank the FICCI Secretariate for their efiortless support and work in publishing the Newsletter.
I wholeheartedly believe that the articles of this Newsletter would encourage the FICCI member companies and other businesses in Bangladesh to align their working strategy and commitment toward ensuring attaining the status of “Smart Bangladesh” as an individual companies and the country as a whole. I strongly believe our commit- ment and initiative will help the Government of Bangladesh to meet the goal of “Smart Bangladesh” by 2041.
With Thanks and Regards,
Naser Ezaz Bijoy President, FICCI
