'Kick them out': BB governor on big groups holding shrimp lands without investment

Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur has called for bold action against big industrial groups that hold vast government-leased lands in the shrimp sector but fail to invest — saying they should be "kicked out" and replaced by genuine entrepreneurs.

"We have a tendency to use tea gardens and fisheries estates as family jewels. No, they are national assets," Dr Mansur said today (3 December) while addressing a policy dialogue titled 'Transforming policy support for reviving Bangladesh's shrimp sector' at a city hotel. 

At the event -- organised by Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) and Policy Research Institute (PRI) -- he questioned: "The land was leased to big industrial groups; they didn't invest. Why didn't you take those lands back?"

He suggested conducting a census to audit land productivity and revoking leases from non-performers. 

Highlighting the poor state of the sector, Mansur called its performance a "miserable failure." He pointed out that while India produces roughly 7 tonnes of shrimp per hectare, Bangladesh yields only about 0.5 tonnes.

He also noted the industry's dramatic decline — from nearly $1 billion in exports to about $300 million — as evidence of "benign neglect," especially around adoption of new technology, such as high-yield species like Vannamei shrimp.

Dr Mansur said, mere credit expansion is not the solution, noting that the processing industry is already over-invested with 12-20% underutilisation.

"The problem is not in the processing segment. It's in the production segment. We do not produce enough shrimp to process," he pointed out.

He reminded stakeholders that the central bank already offers "generous" loan rescheduling with 10-15 year tenures and provides access to the Export Facilitation Pre-finance Fund, which allows exporters to obtain up to Tk5 crore for raw material imports.