President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has urged innovative young people to come forward and engage in business and commerce.
He made the call when a 21-member delegation of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), led by its President Taskeen Ahmed, paid a courtesy call on him at Bangabhaban on Monday.
The president also urged businesspeople to take initiatives to develop alternative energy systems quickly. He said young entrepreneurs need to be more involved in the competition surrounding the Fourth Industrial Revolution, digital transformation, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
He also stressed the need to reduce bank interest rates to facilitate the expansion of business and commerce.
Referring to low-interest bank loans during the tenure of late President Ziaur Rahman, Mirza Fakhrul said such financing had contributed to industrialisation and the creation of new entrepreneurs in relatively underdeveloped regions such as Rajshahi and northern Bangladesh. He described the initiative as a landmark step.
During the meeting, the DCCI delegation formally invited the president to attend the upcoming Bangladesh AI Business Summit 2026, organised by the chamber, as the chief guest. The president accepted the invitation and assured them that he would attend.
The DCCI representatives said they were working to implement Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s plans to achieve the goal of turning Bangladesh’s economy into a $1 trillion economy by 2034.
They expressed hope that by working closely with the government, business and trade-related problems could be resolved within the next two years and the sector could move forward. They also presented their demands, challenges and prospects to the president.
Mirza Fakhrul also said people in Bangladesh had repeatedly struggled, fought and sacrificed their lives for democracy. However, he said, the country had failed to institutionalise democracy after achieving it because political parties had misused its benefits.
He said the country had fallen behind in the past because of what he described as a system of plunder, which also brought business and commerce to a standstill. He further alleged that personal greed had contributed to the destruction of the banking sector.
The president also called on businesspeople to become more involved in social development and welfare activities.
The president’s Military Secretary, Secretary and Press Secretary, along with members of the DCCI delegation, were present at the meeting.
