TBT desk: Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin on Wednesday called upon the business community for increasing their participation in the operations of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to stand beside millions of underprivileged families.
Bashir made the call while speaking as the chief guest at a business talk styled "Trade with TCB" organized by the TCB at the Army Golf Club in the capital this noon.
He alleged that the TCB was not free from the criminalization that took place in various sectors of the country before the August 5 revolution. "I've received a lot of evidences to this during my visits to different parts of the country,"
Stating that there were widespread irregularities in the selection process of the beneficiaries in the past, Bashir said that during his visits to different parts of the country, he had seen the TCB card from the owner of a jute mill, from the owner of a five-story building, according to a Commerce Ministry press release here.
Expressing his desire to bring about positive changes in the operations of TCB, the Commerce Adviser said, "I want to bring TCB to a rational level during my tenure,"
Mentioning that the government has to purchase goods worth Taka 12,000 crore to Taka 14,000 crore for one crore families, he said, "We want to see proper utilization of this money. We want to select eligible beneficiaries for this and at the same time, we want to purchase more goods with this money,"
Bashir went on saying, "That is why I want to see the participation of traders in the work of TCB. Through this, trade opportunities will increase while people will get their suitable place back,"
Due to the overall efforts, the Commerce Adviser said that the market system was good during the last Holy Month of Ramadan. He said that they have worked as a government for which a competitive system has been created while trust has been restored.
Secretary (Routine Charge) of the Ministry of Commerce Dr. Nazneen Kawsar Chowdhury spoke as special guest at the event. TCB Chairman Brigadier General Mohammad Faisal Azad delivered the welcome speech.
TCB Director (Commercial) SM Shaheen Parvez made the keynote presentation at the event. Director (Procurement and Finance Management) Md. Abed Ali spoke about the procurement process while TCB Additional Director Al-Amin Hawlader spoke about supply chain management.
Businessmen from different sectors of the country participated in the program.