Business leaders on Monday paid tribute to former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia at a memorial and doa mahfil in Dhaka, recalling her defining role in restoring parliamentary democracy and shaping Bangladesh’s political course.
The programme was organised by the International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (ICC Bangladesh) jointly with 17 national trade bodies.
Addressing the event, ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman said Khaleda Zia led the 1991 movement that restored parliamentary democracy at a critical juncture in national history and became Bangladesh’s first woman prime minister and one of the earliest elected women heads of government in the Muslim world.
He said her tenures in the 1990s and early 2000s saw steady economic growth, rising foreign investment, including the landmark $500 million KAFCO fertiliser project, and expanded social programmes for vulnerable communities.
Mahbubur Rahman said Khaleda Zia prioritised education through free and compulsory primary schooling, the Food for Education programme and free education for girls up to Grade 10, measures that significantly improved female enrolment and social mobility.
He said her administrations also encouraged private sector growth, expanded trade and investment and integrated Bangladesh more actively into the global economy, laying foundations for long-term development.
Despite imprisonment, legal challenges and prolonged health struggles, he said Khaleda Zia remained closely connected to public life and continued to think about the wellbeing of the nation.
Mahbubur Rahman said her belief that she had no home outside Bangladesh continued to inspire the business community to keep its confidence and investment priorities rooted in the country, adding that her legacy would remain inseparable from Bangladesh’s democratic evolution.
The partner trade bodies included apex chambers such as the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Foreign and industry-focused bodies included the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries, Bangladesh Association of Banks and Bangladesh Insurance Association.
Export-oriented associations participating in the programme were the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association and the Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh.
Other sectoral bodies included the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries, Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies, Bangladesh Semiconductor Industry Association, Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association and the Association of Bankers Bangladesh.
