Zahirul Islam, director general of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection and an additional secretary, has said the government's existing policy barriers to the development of the food processing industry must be removed. At the same time, a lasting solution must be found through discussion to make coordination between agencies easier and more effective.
He said this as special guest at the closing ceremony of the 11th Foodpro International Expo of the Bangladesh Agro-Processors' Association (BAPA) at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) in the capital on Saturday, 12 September.
Farmers, technology and branding
Zahirul Islam said many organisations work in the food processing sector, so it must now move forward with a specific action plan.
"The weak links between our farmers in the field and the industrial sector must be removed. At the same time, farmers must be given a definite assurance on their produce and on overall market prices. Ensuring technological modernisation, or technology advancement, in this sector is also the need of the hour," he said.
Calling for more attention to branding local products, he said: "Research and development must be increased many times over in both the public and private sectors. All parties, public and private, must work together to build a strong value chain and on market replacement where needed."
"Finally, I would say that everyone in society must come forward from their own position to ensure food safety in the country. We at the consumer directorate do not want to stop at running drives and imposing fines. We also want to give full support to genuine, quality companies that are being harmed amid the crowd of fake and substandard products," he said.
BAPA president Mahbub Anam, senior vice-president Uzma Chowdhury, general secretary Syed Muhammad Shoaib Hasan, The Business Standard deputy editor Sajjadur Rahman, PRAN-RFL Group executive director (export) Mizanur Rahman and Square Food and Beverage CEO Parvez Saiful Islam were present.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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