News Flash
DHAKA, May 5, 2025 (BSS) – Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin today put emphasis on ensuring fair trade, stabilization of market and creating buffer zone in order to supplement the government efforts towards ensuring food security as well as smooth trade and commerce operations in the country.
“We’ll have to continue our efforts to ensure fair trade and stabilization of market … we should also create buffer storage facility,” he said.
The commerce adviser was addressing a session titled “Food market, supply and domestic capacity” of the day-long conference on “Agriculture, Food Security, Lives-Nature” as the chief guest, held at a hotel in the capital today.
The Daily Bonik Barta organized the conference where the Quality Feeds Limited was the lead sponsor.
Meghna Group of Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mostafa Kamal, Kazi Farms Limited Managing Director Kazi Zahedul Hasan, Mutual Trust Bank Managing Director and CEO Syed Mahbubur Rahman, National Citizen Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhter Hossain, Managing Director of ACI Logistics Ltd (Swapno) Sabbir Hasan Nasir, Chief Operating Officer of Square Food, Beverage Ltd Parvez Saiful Islam and Director, Group Corporate and Legal Affairs of Quality Feeds Limited M Safir Rahman spoke as panel discussants.
Bashir said that alongside ensuring fair trade and market stabilization, just-based hoarding of goods can take place by the state or through PPP basis.
In this regard, he opined that the successive political government should take care of this issue since this is a long-term initiative and could not be done overnight.
Considering the country’s huge annual food market size, the commerce adviser said that corresponding investments are required to tap the potentials like in the fields of irrigation, fertilizer production, agro- ecological reference and on climate vulnerability.
He said that a national-level discussion could be held in this regard where the intelligent minds of the country could deliver their suggestions on policy issues.
Bashir also underscored the need for framing an overall policy on animal feed and human food issues. “It’s necessary and we need to go far. We need to comprehend our responsibilities and thus design our actions,” he added.
Taking a swipe over the previous AL regime, the commerce adviser alleged that there were ‘festivals of expenditure’ during that period in projects, adding that it was then regarded as a credit through making expenditures by creating unnecessary sectors or areas while the country’s people are now facing the consequences of those misdeeds.
Turning to the issue of inflation, the commerce adviser suggested for measuring inflation index based on the list of the 17 essential items of the government to understand, monitor and regulate the market in a much more productive way.
To ensure fair trade, he said that all the regulatory entities of the government should work in an independent manner and thus work as a catalyst.
Referring to the relentless operations of the entities under the Ministry of Commerce in keeping the market of essential items stable during the last Holy Month of Ramadan, Bashir said that they would repeat those initiatives which are possible in order to maintain the stability of market.
The speakers at the panel suggested for framing a comprehensive agriculture policy, making prudent post harvest management through automatic harvesting, building real-time food observatory, widening the coverage of the refinancing schemes, ensuring due quality in feed production, introducing agri insurance for the poultry sector, building sufficient cold storage facilities, consulting with the concerned stakeholders before taking any policy decision, and enhancing capacity of the sea ports.
