I would hope that the new government would launch a concerted effort with the garment manufacturers and exporters to develop a realistic, achievable action plan for competing in the global arena. Related to keeping Bangladesh competitive is the supply of power. Rich in natural gas, Bangladesh should have a power surplus, and the ready availability of cheap, reliable power should be a draw for potential investors. But, as all of us know, that certainly is not the case. Load shedding, almost 900 hours last year, resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues.
Money is needed for both additional power generation and improved transmission and distribution.
Government agencies alone owe power companies 24 billion taka. Private investors stand ready to invest in Bangladesh to fill the current need for power, but will be reluctant to work in Bangladesh unless power consumers pay for what they use. The new government will need to take prompt, drastic action to break the current culture whereby paying power bills is an optional activity. I think that generally everyone now accepts that Bangladesh is blessed with tremendous gas resources. The question is how best for Bangladesh to utilize these resources to promote development.