|
 |
|
Man with a Vision
Deepak Adhikary, Deputy General Manager and Head of IFC-SEDF Bangladesh, feels Dhaka to be the safest city where life just goes on. Added to this are his ideas and willingness to increase private sector growth which makes him all more different. By Nusrat Haque
|
|
Deepak Adhikary will make you feel at ease within seconds. He emits a vibrancy that will leave you with positive thoughts all day. Even when he is talking about the most serious of issues you would find a note of humor in it. A Nepali by birth, Deepak completed his MBA from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in the year 1977. His graduate years in Bangladesh created a bonding so deep that when given the chance years later in 2002 to come to Bangladesh and work for South Asia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF), a multi donor facility managed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, Deepak could not be anymore excited.
SEDF’s long term plan is to mitigate poverty in Bangladesh. To achieve this SEDF focuses on the private sector growth and increases the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SME).
|
|
|
|
|
For a business it is of utmost importance to learn how to survive in the market and simultaneously think of ways on how to increase their market share and these problems just mount for small and medium enterprises. Thus by helping mid size firms with research and development facilities and by developing the value chain, Deepak hopes that these companies will have a greater chance to establish themselves and increase their market share.
According to him there are approximately four thousand garment firms and among these only around three hundred companies are self sufficient. The rest of the companies are in desperate need and it is not only the financial barrier that restricts them from going all the way to the top. Many local garment firms lose out on foreign buyers due to a lack of understanding of the needs of the corporation in terms of delivery practices, quality standards and productivity improvement. These companies lack the technical knowledge and because of this they are falling behind by large steps. This is when SEDF comes forward and provides them with technical advises regarding productivity improvement and other compliance issues.
Moreover Deepak thinks that right when the country is getting dependent on the garment sector, more thought should be given to the textile industry. His future plans include assisting the dying and finishing industries as he feels that this would strengthen the backward linkage and immensely help the garment sector.
‘I am a matchmaker who does behind the scene work’ laughs Deepak.
‘We bring in people from the different production stage and put them together for greater benefit.’
The poultry industry is another one which requires extensive help. Around 50%-60% of the market share is dominated by a very few large firms only. The rest of the firms stay helpless as they do not have a strong value chain. By bringing the different firms in the value chain together Deepak believes that these industries can overcome their shortcomings in no time.
According to him it is the long term profit motive that should drive the SME’s forward. The more profit a SME makes the greater its chances of adding value to the organization and to its respective value chain.
‘One has to have an incentive to work better and we are here to build and develop the incentive for them.’
With a long thirty year work experience in enterprise development it is of no wonder that Deepak has worked in many countries. Upon asking about his best experience till date he says almost immediately ‘Africa.’ He worked at the office of Nelson Mandela and that had a profound effect on him. He saw Mandela’s leadership skills, his way of managing a good transition and his devotion towards his country men from up close and Deepak was in awe with it.
‘Changes can be brought by only a very few people. You cannot expect two thousand people to change the system because heroes are only a handful.’
What Deepak realized is that Mandela had a vision and this is one thing that all institutions and individuals alike should have if they want to prosper in the future.
When asked what is exactly going wrong in Bangladesh when it comes to development he remarks a problem could be solved faster if the individual himself looks for the solution rather than waiting for someone else to solve it for him.’
‘I feel proud to sit in such a posh office in the Gulshan area till I look through the window. There is traffic everywhere. I see a Ferrari with its top down and a truck comes by and smothers the proud man behind the wheel with a blast of black exhaust gas.’
‘One does not have to wait for the government to fix everything. I believe that if all the big shops and corporate houses in this Gulshan avenue donates hundred thousand taka each and hires and trains traffic controllers then the situation would be much better.’
According to him this is exactly what is happening in Thailand where a particular area controls their own traffic and if its possible there then it would be possible in this country too.
Deepak believes that Bangladesh has people power and there is always a rush of adrenaline pumping in these people to do something great. The only thing is that this needs to be properly channeled and he believes Bangladesh would prosper in no time.
His stay for the last six years was great and he feels that at the end of the day life really goes on in Bangladesh.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|