INDUSTRIALIZATION IN BANGLADESH: A CASE OF FAILURE

S.N.  Ahmed; F.  Hamid

doi:10.53808/KUS.2003.5.2.0352-S

Authors

S.N. Ahmed Economics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
F. Hamid Economics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53808/KUS.2003.5.2.0352-S

Keywords:

Industrialization, government intervention, import-substitution, export-orientation, employment creation.

Abstract

This paper makes a meager attempt to trace the industrialization performance of Bangladesh. While doing so it reveals that aiming at rapid growth of the industrial sector the government has actively intervened into the system and adopted an industrial policy specially emphasizing on import substitution. But the bitter reality is that in spite of various support measures the sector has experienced sluggish rate of growth throughout the past several decades. The study traces that this unexpected performance was a result of limited domestic market and contracting foreign market for industrial products. Moreover, industrialization policies aiming at import-substitution, by making capital relatively cheaper encouraged capital-intensive structures. This is in clear conflict with the employment objective of the government. Hence the paper suggests an outward looking strategy, that is, export-oriented industrialization rather than the inward looking one that is import-substitution.

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