Jagaran Chakma

Unchecked growth not an option, say planners, while builders say it is hurting home buyers

As listed companies, especially those in the manufacturing sector, have reported falling profits in recent quarters, business leaders are now turning their attention to how best to navigate 2025 amid global uncertainty, domestic inflation and rising borrowing costs.

Although Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest exporter of readymade garments, it continues to struggle with major challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, cumbersome bureaucracy and murky regulations.

Eighteen years ago, a young man from Narayanganj landed in Melbourne with a suitcase full of ambition and just a few hundred dollars to his name. Today, that man – Md Shamim – owns 108 Subway outlets across Australia, ranking him among the franchise's largest global operators.

Bangladesh’s natural rubber industry, once a bright spot in the economy, is losing its lustre as slumping demand and volatile law and order in the greater Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) send prices tumbling.

Bangladesh, long regarded as a cost-competitive destination and once hailed as the next Asian tiger, is now grappling with mounting pressure as the cost of doing business is rising sharply across key sectors.

As the United States moves to impose reciprocal tariffs, concerns are mounting among Bangladeshi exporters, particularly in the footwear and pharmaceutical sectors, over potential implications for the country’s trade prospects.

Restoring confidence in Dhaka-Delhi ties will be the key objective of the meeting between Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bangkok today, diplomatic sources said.