Full support must be given to restart Beximco’s factories

The Beximco Group, one of the biggest industrial groups in the country, has taken steps to restart production at its factories that have stayed closed for a long time. A British company and a Chinese company have offered 23 million dollars in foreign investment to open a garment factory at Beximco Industrial Park in Kashimpur, Gazipur. The factory will run on a new business model. If the government gives the needed approval, the two investors want to start production in the first half of next year.

Beximco Industrial Park has 16 closed garment and textile units. The group plans to restart Prefix Fashions Limited first. Economists think the same model can then open the other factories step by step. They see this move as a very positive example for the country’s economy.

Economic analysts say Beximco has played many roles in the economy of Bangladesh. It has long had a big effect on industry, exports and jobs. It once was one of the biggest private employers in the country, with more than 70 thousand workers. Through textiles, garments and other sectors, it exported goods to about 55 countries and earned foreign currency. Beximco Pharmaceuticals also leads the medicine industry and has built a strong place in the global market by exporting medicines.

After the mass uprising toppled the autocratic government of Ms. Sheikh Hasina, the group faced extreme chaos. Mr. Salman F Rahman, her former adviser on private industry and investment, owns the group. Some of its factories were vandalised and set on fire at that time. The group then failed to pay the workers’ dues. So the interim government led by Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus declared the 16 factories of Beximco Industrial Park closed in 2025. Before that, the government had given Tk 526 crore to pay the workers’ dues.

We have said many times that a company cannot close just because its owner is absent. A company must run at its own pace, and we must keep it running. When it closes, the loss to the economy spreads in many ways. Many people’s jobs, the income of countless families and many firms that support its production depend on it. When it closes, all this activity stops.

The size of the two investments shows how much a big group like Beximco has hurt jobs and the economy by closing a large part of its business. The investors hope the factory can export about 500 million dollars worth of garments in two to three years. The Chinese investor Besting is a retailer and brand in the international market, so it will help win orders. The factory will give jobs to about 2,500 workers.

Under the business model, the factory will pay back the banks that hold its assets as loan security. It will pay them in instalments directly from its export income. Beximco officials will meet the chairman of the government investment agency Invest Bangladesh in the coming days to discuss the model. If the agency approves, the factory will start in the first half of next year and follow environmental, social and legal rules. The proposed lease or profit sharing model needs approval from Invest Bangladesh and Bangladesh Bank.

If the model works, the group plans to restart the other 15 closed factories in the park step by step. Beximco officials think more than 30 thousand workers who lost their jobs after the closures can slowly get work again. It goes without saying that the country now faces an investment drought, and local and foreign investment has fallen to a negative level. In this situation, reopening this factory and other closed ones is good news for the investment sector.

The government should give full help to the investors in reopening the factories. It should help them start the factories, begin production and reach their export goals. Any bureaucratic trouble or hurdle would hurt investment badly. Observers say the chairman of the investment board has failed fully to bring in investment. They say the finance minister also fails to handle the bad economic situation. In this situation, the investors’ interest in reopening the closed Beximco factories gives a chance to end the investment drought. Seeing their offer, local and foreign entrepreneurs will want to invest, and it will set an example for them.

There is no need to say again how fragile the overall economic situation is. The government is taking many steps, but the results will take time, and no one will see instant gains. Inflation, unemployment, falling income and rising prices of daily goods have left ordinary people gasping. Poverty rises day by day. Business, imports and exports are stagnant. Many controversial events also add to people’s worry.

The government has already handed the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) of Chattogram Port to the highly controversial Dubai based DP World. Many groups protested, but the government still leased the terminal to serve the interests of Ms. Hasina and Professor Yunus. This has put the country’s sovereignty and integrity at risk. Geopolitical tension may also bring instability and economic loss. Economists say there is no alternative to more investment to turn the economy around.

In this case, the plan to reopen Beximco’s closed factories through investment has appeared as a ray of hope. Economists say an established company matters more than its owner. Owners may change, but the company stays in place and keeps working. Courts may try the owner of Beximco for the crimes alleged against him. That should never be a reason to close the company or keep it closed. We hope the government will give every kind of help to this move for the sake of the economy.