CPB opposes privatization of state-owned companies

The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) has strongly opposed the privatization of state-owned companies.

Opposing the initiative by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) to open 44 industrial assets under five state-owned enterprises for domestic and foreign private investment, the party said that the country's vast industrial assets have been auctioned wholesale; in the light of the situation, it seems that advertisements are being circulated to give away these vast state assets on a 'first come, first served' basis.

In a statement on Tuesday (July 7), CPB President Kazi Sajjad Zahir Chandan and General Secretary Abdullah Kafi Ratan said that the initiative to give local and foreign private companies access to the state-owned industrial enterprises and industrial assets established on more than 10,000 acres of land under the names of 'reinvestment in existing industrial assets', 'restructuring and redevelopment', 'lease-based and long-term lease-based arrangements', 'joint ventures', 'strategic partnerships', etc. is basically a well-planned step to establish corporate control over people-owned assets.

The leaders said that the government is trying to promote this initiative as a program to increase investment and employment. But in reality, it is a continuation of the liberalization and privatization policies followed for a long time. This initiative is a manifestation of the policy being followed to remove the state from production and industrial management and turn it into a facilitator of private capital as per the demands of the World Bank, IMF and domestic and foreign big capital.

In the statement, they said, for a long time, a concept has been systematically established that state-owned industrial enterprises mean loss-making, inefficient and ineffective. The reality is that many state-owned industries have been pushed into crisis through planned mismanagement, failure to make necessary investments, deprivation from modernization, failure to ensure efficient management and policy negligence. Then, using that crisis as an excuse, initiatives are being taken to hand over public assets to private capital. This is not an economic reform; rather, it is a policy of gradual privatization of state-owned assets.

The leaders further said that state-owned industrial enterprises, land and infrastructure are the assets of the people; these are the national assets of not only the present generation but also of future generations. State-owned industries have an important role to play in ensuring industrialization, employment, regional balanced development and economic security. Therefore, weakening the state's control over these assets under the pretext of temporary financial gain or attracting investment is against the national interest.

They said that although the government has opened 44 industrial assets for investment, no transparent information has been presented to the public on the basis of which they were selected, what is the real financial value of the assets, under what conditions will the lease or joint investment be made, to what extent will the state's ownership and control be maintained. Taking such decisions on national assets bypassing the people of the country, industry partners, workers, experts, and even the National Parliament is against democratic accountability.

In the statement, the CPB leaders made four demands - immediately suspend the initiative to open state-owned industrial assets to private capital; make the full list of the proposed 44 projects, their evaluation, and the terms of the proposed contracts public; organize a national discussion with the participation of labor organizations, economists, industry experts, and relevant stakeholders; and formulate a comprehensive national industrial policy for the modernization and revival of state-owned industrial enterprises.

The leaders said that state-owned industries and assets built with public money will not be allowed to become a source of profit for any individual, group, or domestic or foreign corporate interests. The party has called on the countrymen to build a united mass movement to protect national assets, economic sovereignty, and state-owned industries.