Specialised banking service for tourism industry will help Bangladesh to explore the potentialities of the sector, speakers at a meeting on tourism and banking on Sunday.
Bangladesh has enormous potentials in the tourism industry as the country is bestowed with natural beauty and rich in cultural heritage, they observed.The meeting was jointly organised by Tourism and Hospitality Management department of Dhaka University and Bangladesh Tourism Foundation held at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban.
In a keynote paper presented by Manoj Khadka, acting chief executive officer of Nepal Tourism Development Bank Ltd, said traditional banks often perceive the tourism industry as high risk sector and so they squeeze financing for developing tourism.
‘So in TDBL we offer special deposit scheme for tourism, special lending packages for hotel purchase, renovation, refurbishment and privileged bank guarantee for tourism related businesses,’ he told the meeting.
He also said that in 2013, Nepal’s tourism industry contributed some 8.2 per cent to the country’s GDP which rose to 9.9 per cent in 2014.
For Bangladesh, the tourism industry’s contribution to GDP was 4.4 per cent in 2013 which rose to 4.7 per cent in 2014, he said.
Nepal TDBL chairman Pushpa Raj Kandel said the Himalayan nation is also like Bangladesh in terms to tourism asset. A specialised bank for tourism development helped the sector to grow faster, he added.
Tourism is one of the largest industries in Nepal and a major source for earning foreign exchange and revenue, he said.
Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management director general Toufic Ahmad Choudhury said political stability is a prerequisite for growth of tourism industry.
‘Funding is important but political stability is crucial for growth of tourism industry. At this moment, the banks have idle money in hand. So specialised products for tourism industry can be a good idea,’ he said.
Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Abu Hena Mohammad Razi Hasan, however, said a specialised bank for tourism industry will not be fruitful at this moment.
‘We already have a large number of banks and non-bank financial institutions in the country. So focusing on only one industry would be tough for any new bank to survive the competition,’ he said.
He suggested the existing banks can come up with a joint venture for tourism financing to boost the industry.
State minister for finance MA Mannan, Dhaka University Business Studies department dean Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam, Tourism and Hospitality Management department chairman Mojib Uddin Ahamed and Bangladesh Tourism Foundation president Mokhlesur Rahman also spoke on the occasion.
-With New Age input
