We need to thrive globally

In this world of globalisation, the survivability of a nation is only possible if the commerce of that nation thrives well in other countries. A nation cannot expect to grow economically if it only thinks of its local market alone. A nation like Bangladesh, for instance, must never think that the economy of the nation will grow if only it has a strong domestic economic system. Our economy is thriving but in order to thrive beyond one's own imagination we must move on and thrive strongly in other nations.

Except for a few industries like ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, food and others, most of our local companies think about the local market alone. In today's world, it is like committing suicide.

A company or an organisation will only flourish if it launches its strategies into other markets. For example, we have various real estate companies but all these market their products locally for the local people. They can easily expand their business by entering other countries and pursue the same kind of business.

Africa is developing and so are the other nations of South America. They can go to these places and invest in the real estate sector by constructing apartments and hotels. The same principle applies to other industries like toiletries and food companies.

We must not think of making profit by doing business locally. Profit should also be made from doing business in foreign countries as well. We do not have to go far, if we just look at our neighboring country India then we can get a clear glimpse of their business strategies.

Companies like Tata or Aditya Birla Group are not just sitting in their own backyard and making profits. They ask for more by stepping into foreign soils in order to dominate foreign markets as well. How many companies in Bangladesh are like Tata or Aditya Birla?

Even if we talk about the media and entertainment industry, we are far behind India. Subhash Chandra, the chairman of Zee Telefilms and Essel Group, knows how to attract foreign viewers. Most of the Hindi television serials are sub-titled in English so that foreign viewers can understand the story in the drama. Why can't our television channels do the same thing in order to attract foreign viewers? This would surely solidify our culture abroad.

It is time that our Ministry of Commerce steps forward in implementing laudatory efforts in helping the local industries go abroad for business expansion.