Bangladesh can benefit from the ongoing global trade war if the country focuses on infrastructure development, speakers at a seminar said on Saturday.
They also underlined the need for easing the doing business, boosting efficiency to cut cost of production and policy-level readiness to face any uncertainty.
The views and recommendations came at a seminar titled 'Trade War and Its Implications for Bangladesh,' jointly organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) in the city.
Shubhashish Bose, senior secretary of commerce ministry was the chief guest at the seminar.
Bijoy Bhattacharjee, vice chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), was present as the special guest at the seminar, moderated by Abul Kasem Khan, president of the DCCI.
Mr Bose said while the recent trade war is unlikely to be prolonged, many Chinese factories may relocate their units to the potential Asian countries.
"And we should take this opportunity. If we can get ourselves prepared in a short span of time, we can reap some of the benefits," he said. "Otherwise, we will miss the train."
Bangladesh has to get prepared with the infrastructural facilities, skill development and technology-based industrial capacity, he said adding, "Our capability is not enough to attract FDI (foreign direct investment) from all the sectors because we are too labour-intensive country."
Terming the devaluation of taka against the US dollar "risky" for Bangladesh, he said this may increase both inflation and cost of production as import is higher than exports.
He suggested focusing on enhancing productivity and diversification, saying industrial revolution is ahead of Bangladesh.
"We need to focus on manufacturing robotics, software, and machinery," he said.
Because of the trade war, local backward linkage industry will flourish more, he said, recommending joint work by the private and public sectors.
Explaining the possible effects of trade war on the global economy, Ali Ahmed, chief executive officer of BFTI, said there will be impacts on Bangladesh's export, import and investment.
Orders, especially of the readymade garment, are coming to Bangladesh but those are shifting more to Vietnam, Cambodia or even to Myanmar than this country, he said while presenting his keynote paper.
"Depreciation against US dollar by China and other countries will make Bangladeshi products less price-competitive," he noted.
Bangladesh could get advantages as importer of cotton and soybean as the prices of these two products are declining, he said, expressing the fear about a rapid pick-up in cheaper imported Chinese products.
His recommendation included analysing the opportunities, enhancing supply-side capacity and incentivising the investors to invest in Bangladesh by branding the country and expediting infrastructure projects and improving ease of doing business.
The EPB vice chair said Bangladesh has to get ready to invite investments with future business potentials to avoid investment in low-end products shifted from China.
China has recently announced a long list of tariff cuts on imports from South Korea, India, Bangladesh, Laos and Sri Lanka, the DCCI president said, adding the country needs to capitalise on this and seize this window of opportunity.
Many 'sunset industries' from China will need to move out and therefore Bangladesh has to create a smooth transition process, enabling situation focusing on the ease of doing business for the factories to be relocated and should have a planned marketing and branding mechanism, Mr Khan added.
Bangladesh could garner benefits by taking the advantage of the supply chain relocation that is going to happen in the long run if the trade war persists, he said.
Mostafa Abid Khan, member of Bangladesh Tariff Commission, said due to a lack of infrastructure Bangladesh is falling behind in manufacturing the electronic products.
M Masrur Reaz, senior economist and programme manager of the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank, underscored the need for trade liberalisation, cost competitiveness, skill development and trade reforms.
Bangladesh is not yet ready to get benefit from the trade war, though it would give some opportunities, said Humayun Rashid, managing director and CEO of Energypac Power Generation Ltd.
He recommended that the opportunity should be given to open letter of credit (L/C) in the Chinese Yuan.
munni_fe@yahoo.com