This is a welcome move as Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has taken the initiative to reopen the country's closed and ailing industrial units, with a special focus on reviving shuttered jute and sugar mills.
This directive from the top level has come against the backdrop of the shutdown of 25 state-owned jute mills in July 2020 and six sugar mills later that year due to massive financial losses, use of outdated machinery, high production costs and chronic mismanagement, which caused state-owned jute mills to incur an accumulated loss of over Tk 10,000 crore.
Now the government wants to revive those closed jute and sugar mills in collaboration with private sector entrepreneurs, though the specifics of how private entrepreneurs will be involved, including the nature of ownership or partnership arrangements, are yet to be finalized.
According to an estimate released in late 2024, there were 397 closed industrial establishments in the country. Of these, 382 were sick or closed units under the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation, five were under the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, six were sugar mills under the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation, and four were factories under the Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation.
In addition, as per data presented by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), a total of 353 garment factories remained shut down until November 2025 across Savar, Gazipur, Chattogram, Narayanganj and Narsingdi, rendering 119,842 workers jobless.
Savar has been severely hit, with 214 factories remaining closed. Almost 31,000 employees have lost their jobs there. More than 73,000 workers are unemployed in Gazipur as a result of the closure of 72 industries. One important factor in this area has been identified as the permanent closure of 13 clothing factories owned by the Beximco Group, which went into serious trouble after the fall of the previous government.
However, some garment units were closed due to non-compliance with factory guidelines defined by international standards, which refer to practices that fail to meet safety, labour and ethical requirements. Consequently, small factories unable to adhere to international standards have had little choice but to shut down.
There are also other crises facing our RMG factories, including internal political instability following the July-August 2024 uprising and the global tariff war initiated by the United States. As a result, an estimated two to three lakh garment workers have lost their jobs in Bangladesh.
This has triggered rising unemployment in the country. The number of unemployed individuals has increased, with estimates indicating that over 2.7 million people are currently jobless. Some experts argue that if disguised unemployment are included, the real unemployment rate could be closer to 10%. Most importantly, youth unemployment has exceeded 28%, while the unemployment rate among tertiary-educated youth has risen to 13.5%.
People across the country pin their hopes on the new government to generate employment opportunities by reopening closed industrial units alongside the establishment of new industries nationwide.
