DHAKA,  – Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi today said that the government has taken special initiative to make the light engineering sector export-oriented since it is being considered as a very important and potential sector among the SMEs.

“If the light engineering products can be made export-oriented, then it will be possible to create huge employment opportunities and thus reducing dependency on one product for exports,” he said.

The commerce minister was addressing the national-level consultative workshop titled “Framing Policy for light engineering industry development” as the chief guest.

Business Promotion Council under the Ministry of Commerce and Bangladesh Light Engineering Industry Owners’ Association jointly organized this virtual consultative workshop.

Association technical adviser Engineer Mohammad Habibur Rahman presented a draft policy on light engineering at the workshop.

Tipu Munshi said it is possible to create huge employment opportunities in the light engineering sector through building technically skilled workforce side by side it is also possible to further expand the export market through production of newer items and export diversification.

“But, to tap this potential, all concerned stakeholders will need to come forward alongside the government initiatives,” he said, adding that the government wants to move ahead in a planned way with the suggestions of the entrepreneurs of this industry.

For this, Tipu said the Light Engineering Industry Development Policy is being framed in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The commerce minister also said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has declared the light engineering Industry as “Borshoponno-2020” since a big market of these products has been created in the country.

He opined that the surplus products from this industry could be exported abroad after meeting the local demand. Tipu said alongside the light engineering Industry products, the products of ICT, plastic, agriculture and leather are being developed as export competitive in order to increase the number of exportable items.

For this, he informed that the Export Competitiveness for Jobs (EC4J) project is being implemented with support from the World Bank. Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin, Additional Secretary (export) and EC4J project director Md Hafizur Rahman, Business Promotion Council coordinator Md Abdur Rahim and Bangladesh Light Engineering Industry Owners’ Association President Md Abdur Razzaque spoke, among others, on the occasion.