Bangladesh stands on the cusp of becoming a regional manufacturing powerhouse by 2035. To materialize this goal the government plans to merge its various investment alike bodies  into a unified one-stop entity— Investment Promotion Agency (IPA),    to simplify processes and attract foreign investors. This vision is bold, but it contains a critical oversight: possible sidelining of the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC). Excluding BSCIC from the merger would sever the new agency from decades of domestic industrial development, effectively privileging foreign capital over our own domestic capacity. Established in 1957, BSCIC—the nation’s first industrial promotion body and has nurtured countless small and cottage industries. Its vast domestic grassroots network has built the very foundation of our economy. Ignoring BSCIC means ignoring rural entrepreneurs, traditional crafts and the hundreds of thousands of small firms that feed the broader economy.

A unified investment authority that omits this sector would create a two-tier system, favoring large foreign projects while our domestic entrepreneurs and industries remain stuck in traditional procedures thus failed to cope up and link up with the highly competing business world. In short, sidelining BSCIC jeopardizes inclusive growth, deepens regional inequality and undermines national resilience. To achieve balanced prosperity – bringing wealth to both city and countryside – BSCIC must be fully integrated into the new investment authority. BSCIC is a  testament to an enduring legacy was created for an independent Bangladesh’s economy as the nation’s first government organization devoted to industrial promotion, focusing on small, rural and cottage industries nationwide. In its early years, BSCIC even imported machinery and raw materials, provided loans, and guided new projects in detail. Unlike later agencies that focused on big investors, BSCIC built Bangladesh’s industry from the ground up. This legacy ties BSCIC deeply to our national industrial identity. Excluding BSCIC from the new investment authority would cut it off from these roots, privileging foreign capital over local capability. We would lose the bedrock of our entrepreneurial history. Any strategy for balanced growth must honor the institutions that created that history.

BSCIC’s unique strength is its reach, as it operates 82 industrial estates nationwide, delivering doorstep services to entrepreneurs in remote regions. This network is a proven engine of rural prosperity. For example, BSCIC estates have given rise to industry leaders in every possible sector of Bangladesh: pharmaceutical companies like Square Pharmaceuticals (Pabna) and Radiant Pharma (Tongi) grew out of these zones, producing high  value medicines;  Pran-RFL (Rangpur), probably most common name in every household of Bangladesh— drives food and household goods processing and what not;  heavy electrical and battery firms — BRB Cables (Kushtia), National Fan (Tongi) and Hamko Battery (Khulna) — became national players; and manufacturing hubs like Kader Synthetic (Konabari) and the hosiery cluster in Narayanganj Hosiery Estate power our textile sectors. For agro & eniviromental goods, products and machineries—Alim Agro Industries ltd in Sylhet, Zaman Jute diversified Mills ltd in Jhenaidah are flourishing with higher growth potential.  Even heritage industries have flourished: the Jamdani Industrial Estate in Narayanganj preserves our national weave,  Sopura Silk in Rajshahi showcases a regional craft, and Sareng Furniture and Fortune Shoes in Barisal have boosted furniture and footwear manufacturing. BSCIC Industrial Estates in Kalurghat (Chittagong), Noakhali, Feni, Cumilla, Bogura, Nilphamari, Sylhet, Jhenaidah, Mymensingh, Narsingdi  Pabna, Madaripur, Faridpur and Jessore are also thriving in various industries with global  competitiveness.  

These examples underscore BSCIC’s critical contributions. Each estate comes with infrastructure, utilities and local know-how – a tested ecosystem ready for investors. Integrating it into the unified agency gives the government a ready mechanism for equitable regional growth and CMSME support. In short, BSCIC’s network is the bedrock of our industrial progress thus ignoring it would collapse our growth foundations. BSCIC’s strength lies in nurturing entrepreneurs at the grassroots. Its training programs – from district-level Entrepreneurship Development Programs (EDP) to the BSCIC Training Institute(previously SCITI) and 15 skill centers – have trained over hundreds of thousands  men and women in industrial and craft skills. For human capital development—no other agency matches BSCIC’s focus and capacity on building skills from the ground up. The impact is enormous— around 830,000 small and cottage enterprises employ over 29 million people, with more than half of those jobs in rural areas, according to a survey of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). These businesses are vital for village livelihoods and poverty reduction. Yet the merger plan trying to sidelines them. Without BSCIC, that outcome would shatter Bangladesh’s burgeoning domestic entrepreneurship cluster.

BSCIC’s alumni are a ready pool of talent – precisely the kind of SMEs multinational firms need as suppliers, subcontractors and R&D partners. Foreign investment brings technology, but it succeeds only if local firms can absorb it. Thanks to BSCIC, Bangladesh has trained entrepreneurs and technicians poised to adopt new innovations. Remove BSCIC’s support, and hundreds of thousands of motivated local businesses lose pathways to finance and knowledge. In other words, BSCIC turns training into industrial growth; ignoring these people will ultimately overlook our investment in human capital and hurt our long-term competitiveness. The proposed IPA—   going to merge agencies like BIDA,  BEZA (economic zones), BEPZA (export zones), BHTPA (high tech parks) into a central investment authority aims to streamline investment. But a one-stop entity cannot be truly one-stop if it excludes a major sector/stakeholder— BSCIC . If the merger proceeds this way, the new authority will inevitably favor large foreign projects while leaving the domestic base behind. This effectively creates a two-tier investment system. Foreign investors will glide through one channel of the IPA, enjoying incentives and hassle-free facilitation, while native SMEs – the true bedrock of Bangladesh’s economy – remain stuck in older, fragmented channels. This outcome contradicts the merger’s inclusive rhetoric.

BSCIC’s mandate from the start has been domestic industry support, now a unified agency must serve all sectors together or it will leave a gaping hole in our economic policy. Without BSCIC, entrepreneurs would be stranded, innovators shut out, domestic supply chains weakened and rural industries devastated. In short, leaving BSCIC out of the merger jeopardizes the growth, domestic industrial structure, output and stability of the entire economy. BSCIC’s estates anchor key industrial supply chains. Thousands of small factories on BSCIC Estates in Tongi, Konabari,Chittagong, Narayanganj and Kanchpur spin yarn and knit garments for Bangladesh’s world-renowned ready made garments (RMG) sector, employing millions of knitters and seamstresses. For example, Tamizuddin Textiles and Kader Synthetic (Konabari) – both BSCIC enterprises – supply yarn to garment makers, ensuring steady flow of inputs into this pillar industry. Another example is Shatranji (Rangpur): a GI-protected handloom carpet now exporting to about 40 countries, a heritage craft nurtured under BSCIC support. Beyond apparel, BSCIC estates/parks nurture other vital supply lines. Its API Industrial Park in Munshiganj boosts domestic production of pharmaceutical ingredients, aiming to save $billions in imports. Ongoing  chemical industrial park will safely relocate hazardous factories from Dhaka, and upcoming  estates/zones will strengthen our printing and packaging sectors. Even today, small BSCIC firms in Bogura, Sylhet, Tongi and Konabari produce essential items like packaging, agricultural machinery and spare parts. For foreign investors, these local supply networks are invaluable, because they cut cost and risk. A unified IPA that includes BSCIC gives investors direct access to this established ecosystem; excluding it adds bureaucratic friction and can deter FDI. In reality,  BSCIC is the hidden backbone of Bangladesh’s manufacturing landscape, linking global investment and local enterprise into a resilient whole.

If we take lessons from highly successful investment friendly countries , then Bangladesh need to take  positive action like these countries have taken for themselves.  Lessons from China, India, Vietnam, and South Korea show that inclusive industrial growth hinges on linking foreign investment with domestic SMEs. China’s industrial clusters, India’s ODOP, Vietnam’s FDI reforms, and Korea’s dual-incentive policies all strategically connect global capital to local enterprise. BSCIC already operates 82 industrial estates and nurtures SME hubs across the country. Merging it with the IPA would enable coordinated policies that attract FDI while embedding it within local value chains. Ignoring BSCIC risks replicating Vietnam’s urban-rural divide and missing China’s successful SME-MNC synergy. BIDS’s proposal for merger gains strength if BSCIC is seen not as a peripheral agency but as the key to equitable, innovation-led growth.

BSCIC’s full integration into IPA is an absolute need to  avoids splitting the entrepreneurs, leveraging and using  BSCIC’s 82 plus estates/parks as engines of equitable development and balanced growth. A unified agency with these assets can spread investment benefits nationwide, avoiding excessive urban concentration and safeguarding rural economies. This will essentially help the countries untapped potential— the BSCIC-supported SMEs,  to joint ventures, subcontracting, local sourcing and shared R&D between foreign investors thus  embed Bangladesh’s businesses into global value chains.  

The proposed unification of investment agencies is a momentous opportunity – but it will only pay off if it embraces BSCIC as a vital partner. BSCIC is not an outdated relic; it is positively forward-looking, with a nationwide network, entrepreneurial talent hub and embedded supply chains that drive industrial growth. BSCIC does face challenges (underused land and administrative bottlenecks), but these should be solved through integration and reform, not exclusion.

Crucially, BSCIC embodies Bangladesh’s industrial identity. Its weavers, artisans, garment knitters, seamstresses  and machine builders reflect our cultural heritage and ingenuity. If we sideline BSCIC, we risk losing the soul of our economy – and with it, our national resilience. An economy built only on a few zones or foreign factories is fragile; one rooted in thousands of villages and towns is robust. Bangladesh needs both. Ultimately, Bangladesh’s investment future hinges on this choice. Fully integrating BSCIC will unite foreign and local capital in one cohesive ecosystem, honoring our long-term commitment to small industries while attracting the capital that fuels growth. We urge policymakers and BIDA’s leadership to heed this call: including BSCIC will strengthen our industrial identity, bolster national resilience and ensure domestic industrial prosperity that  truly reaches every corner of the country and beyond.

Shahjahan Ali, currently working as an officer at  BSCIC. He can be reached at: shahjahanir@gmail.com