Agrilife24,com:To make agricultural production sustainable in Bangladesh, the agricultural sector needs to be transformed, which requires latest & innovative technology. For this need more investment from the developed countries, international banks, donor agencies and private entrepreneurs. Bangladesh's farm sector will need approximately Tk. 15 Thousands crores investments in the next five years to achieve its targeted production, export and infrastructure development.
Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque was speaking at the inaugural session of 'Investment Forum' of the World Food Forum being held in Italy's Rome on October 18-19.
The minister urged the developed countries, their banks, global donor agencies and private entrepreneurs to invest in sustainable agricultural production in Bangladesh as well as to be a part of its further transformation, said a press release.
Bangladesh has achieved remarkable success in agricultural production in the last one and a half decades. "But it lags far behind in agricultural processing and export, though there are immense possibilities in these sectors," said Dr Razzaque.
In the country's investment plan, cold storage and post-harvest management, agro-processing and marketing, climate-smart agriculture, and irrigation and water management have been prioritised for which an investment of Tk. 15 Thousands crores would be needed in the next five years, he explained.
The minister called for quick investments in setting up cold storage and implementing post-harvest management methods for processing and marketing four products-potatoes, onions, mangoes and tomatoes.
The availability of modern technology to store perishable items like onions, mangoes and tomatoes in the country are almost absent, while 25-40 per cent of these products are wasted during the post-harvest stage, he said.
Highlighting the details of investment infrastructure and government facilities in Bangladesh, the minister said that the country had a sound environment for investment. Investment in setting up of cold storage, post-harvest management, processing and marketing can be a profitable for the foreign investors. Especially for potatoes, onions, mangoes and tomatoes.
FAO is working to increase investment in agricultural sector transformation. Therefore, FAO organized a two-day 'Investment Conference' from 18-19 October. 20 countries from different parts of the world were participated in this conference. In addition, representatives of various international banks, donor organizations and private entrepreneurs like ACI Agribusiness including the World Bank, Arab Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Latin American Development Bank were participated.
FAO Director General QU Dongyu, its Chief Economist Torero Cullen and representatives of various international banks, donor organisations and private entrepreneurs spoke on the occasion.
Bangladesh Ambassador in Rome Shamim Ahsan, Additional Secretary of the agriculture ministry Ruhul Amin Talukder, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Director General Dr Shahjahan Kabir and Economic Counsellor of Bangladesh embassy in Rome Manas Mitra,President of ACI Agribusinesses Dr F H Ansarey among others, were also present at the global event.
