The county was one of the major exporters of textiles, silk and sugar till the eighteenth century but the industrialization process was subsequently halted during the 200 years of colonial exploitation. As a result, Bangladesh inherited a narrow industrial base when it became independent in 1971.
It has a good number of large, medium and small-sized industries in both public and private sectors based on both indigenous and imported raw materials. Among them are jute, cotton, textile, fertilizer, engineering, shipbuilding, steel, oil-refinery, paper, newsprint, sugar, chemicals, cement and leather. Jute Industry has traditionally played an important role in the national economy. But in recent years, Ready Made Garments Industry has replaced Jute as the principal export-earner for the country. Considerable progress has been attained in the past few years in industries such as leather, ceramic, shrimp, fish, pharmaceuticals and frozen food.
With the development of infrastructures, supportive policies for trade and investment and comparative advantage in labour-intensive Industries, excellent prospects for investment exist in Bangladesh today. Industrial growth was recorded at 81% during 1997-98. Foreign investors are pouring into the country in greater numbers everday, especially in the export processing zones special facilties existing at Dhaka and Chittagong.
To attract local and foreign investors, the present government has introduced a number of perks and incentives. These include provision for setting up export processing zones in the private sector, initiatives to set up new EPZs in the public sector, tax holiday for export—oriented industries, scope for 100 percent foreign investments and repatriation of profits. etc.
Due to the present economic necessity and past experiences, privatization of state—owned enterprises are being geared up by the present government.
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