A privately owned organisation, Architecture Research and Development (ARD), has proposed establishing 6,000 micro economic zones across Bangladesh to boost local production, entrepreneurship, employment, food security and climate resilience.
It plans to implement the proposed zones through a public-private partnership (PPP) with government support.
Architect Shamsunnahar Munni outlined the proposal at a press conference at the Sagar-Runi Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Sunday.
She said the proposed 6,000 micro-economic zones would not be merely a project but a comprehensive ecosystem aimed at meeting people's needs as much as possible through local production.
“This will reduce import dependence, strengthen local economies and create employment opportunities,” she said.
Ms Munni said growing uncertainties in global supply chains, imports and exports, transportation, energy and international markets made it increasingly important to enhance the country's capacity to produce and consume essential goods locally.
“We will work locally and globally. If local problems can be addressed locally, many of the country's major problems can be solved,” she said.
Asked about financing and implementation, she said the organisation wanted to undertake the initiative through a PPP arrangement with the government.
Responding to a question about whether discussions had already been held with any government agency, she said they had learnt at a seminar that Bangladesh Bank has some green funds and suggested that the government could consider financing the initiative from such funds.
Under the proposed model, local people would participate not only as consumers but also as producers. A farmer's products could be used by another entrepreneur, while products made by other entrepreneurs could be consumed by farmers and local residents, creating an interdependent local economic system, she said.
The initiative also seeks to recreate elements of the traditional village-based exchange economy by connecting local producers, artisans, farmers, packaging entrepreneurs and traders.
“We do not want to become like any other country. We want to move forward in our own way, based on our own capabilities,” Ms Munni said.
According to the organisation, each of the proposed 6,000 zones would include cold storage, airflow storage, agro-processing centres, dryer units and food-processing facilities.
The zones would also have environment-friendly housing, workspaces for entrepreneurs, production facilities, training and incubation centres, storage, packaging, branding and marketing facilities.
Small-scale renewable energy systems, including windmills and mini-hydropower facilities, would also be developed in the zones to support low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure, she said.
Ms Munni said if 100 entrepreneurs joined each zone, around 600,000 entrepreneurs could become directly involved across the 6,000 zones. They would purchase ownership shares in the zones, while the number of entrepreneurs could be increased further.
A preliminary survey found the potential for an average of around 270 entrepreneurs in different areas, she said.
She added that field surveys had already been conducted in different unions and localities, and information had been collected on the livelihoods and living conditions of marginalised people. The concept of the master plan was developed based on those field-level observations, she said.
Calling herself an “architect of the poor”, Ms Munni said her organisation had so far worked on building homes for more than 5,000 poor families.
“Drawing on this experience, we have thought of bringing the housing, employment and livelihood needs of marginalised people under a single framework,” she said.
