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Game ChangersInterview

Building The Future

As Bangladesh strives forward, infrastructure will play a crucial role in stimulating and crowding-in private sector investment. By some estimates, Bangladesh will require to make investments of well over $100 billion in the course of the next decade to build ports and roads, set up rail lines, establish power-generation capabilities, and provide utilities and services to meet the ever-increasing demands of the economy. Infrastructure-megaprojects are crucial drivers for accelerating economic growth in a developing country like Bangladesh where average GDP growth in the last eleven years (2008-2019) is nearly 7% per annum. A dream chaser, Md. Mojibur Rahman, Managing Director of Powervision Group, is passionately pursuing an ambition to be part of this mega-infrastructure development narrative of the country. Lamyaa Yushra and Asad Uz Zaman spoke to this visionary entrepreneur to learn about his hopes and aspirations about the Bangladesh development narrative.

Md Mojibur Rahman always dreams big. Photographer: Kazi Mukul.

When you have the urge and determination to work towards the development of your country the image becomes vivid as you become unstoppable in pursuit of achieving that dream. Md. Mojibur Rahman, Managing Director of Powervision Group, is familiar with this concept of putting his country before himself as he worked for the sole purpose of contributing to the economy of Bangladesh, which has been growing at a sluggish pace since the Liberation of the country. But in the past decade, the nation has seen a tremendous rise in its economy and developments in the infrastructure sector, which has assisted the nation to reach the milestone of becoming a middle-income country.

Founded by Rahman, Powervision Group is one of the pioneering importers, indenters and distributors of various construction machinery and commercial vehicles for the Bangladesh market. The company commenced its journey in 2005 with only two employees within a space of 16 years it has turned into one of the largest infrastructure machinery suppliers of the country. The company has followed its vision to support the development process of Bangladesh playing its role from behind the curtains and have worked with many internationally renowned brands. He has kept himself striving towards a goal of “quality changes the world.” As a group, the company has several sister concerns: Powervision Limited, Powervision Aviation Limited, Powervision Marine & Shipyard Limited, Powervision Agriculture Machinery Limited, Powervision Logistics Limited & Powervision Infrastructures Development Limited.

During the construction process, one thing that everyone tends to overlook is the importance of managing dust emissions. Construction sites can generate significant amounts of dust, which not only poses environmental concerns but also affects the health and safety of workers and nearby residents. Understanding this critical aspect, Powervision Group has expanded its offerings to include state-of-the-art Dust Suppression System alongside its range of construction machinery and vehicles.

With a commitment to enhancing the quality of construction practices in Bangladesh, Powervision Group recognizes the necessity of implementing effective dust control measures. The integration of Dust Suppression Systems into its portfolio can reflect the company’s dedication to promoting sustainable development and ensuring a safer working environment for all stakeholders involved in construction projects.

“During my early years, I started by marketing power related products, textile and garment machinery. Gradually, we changed our line to China-based construction machinery and for the past ten years we have been selling construction machinery and have spread our operation into nineteen other divisions.”

 “You will find low-quality and high-quality machinery in China. And what I do is, I import the machinery which has the highest value with the highest price without compromising on the quality. I believe the brand which is number one in China is bound to be on top worldwide because Chinese products have been dominating the market on a large global scale.”

A mechanical engineer, Rahman’s passion has always been for machinery and under his leadership, Powervision Limited has achieved almost 60% of the total market share of infrastructure development machinery for mostly using the latest machines and their market seems to be increasing by a gradual degree and they aim to cover near 70 – 80% of the total market share.

In 2013, Powervision Limited started to market the world-famous brand SANY for Heavy Construction and Port Machinery in Bangladesh. Till now, it has achieved significant growth in sales for SANY Heavy Construction and Port Machinery. SANY products have been synonymous with superior performance and the wide range includes Concrete Batching Plants, Truck-Mounted Concrete Pumps, Trailer Pumps, Excavators, Motor Graders, Crawler Cranes, Mobile cranes, Piling Rigs, etc. and some of these are leading the way in Bangladesh’s construction industry. “As of today we have sold over 3000 heavy machineries in the Bangladesh market and for SANY achievements there are plenty whereas SANY Construction Machinery has been ranked the 2nd position in the global construction machinery industry sector in only 31 years of business. In my opinion, it’s a matter of pride because it shows the quality that SANY has sustained over these years in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide”.

Powervision Limited is the exclusive distributor for SANY Heavy Industry in Bangladesh and it provides 100% quality machines and the company is also reputed throughout the country for providing the best-in-class after-sales service support to its valuable customers. The brand has lived up to its slogan showcasing the world that made-in-China SANY products can be quality products worth reigning the global market with an annual sales revenue of more than 15 Billion US Dollars.

He has also built the largest and most modern machinery service centre in Bangladesh located at Ashulia. He said with a smile, “Not a single machinery company in Bangladesh has a service centre like the one that we have.”

As the government has prioritized more on infrastructural development for the last couple of years, therefore the demand for commercial vehicles is growing at a faster rate. Already some top international brands are operating in this sector like MAN of Germany. He is very happy to be the local partner of MAN in Bangladesh since 2018. “We have several experienced sales and marketing teams under strong management who are working hard to promote the brands we represent in Bangladesh.”

From heavy construction vehicles and machinery, he is now eyeing agriculture machinery. ‘Our success in agriculture is phenomenal, he said, adding that ‘one of the reasons for our sustainable development growth is our achievement in agriculture. We have attained sufficiency in food production, we should now be looking for ways to provide people with more nutritious food.’

The government is prioritising the agriculture sector and giving required policy support for the modernization of the sector. This has inspired him to venture into agriculture machinery manufacturing.

Sharing his plan with Colors he said, ‘We are going to launch the modern manufacturing plant: Powervision Agriculture Machinery Limited, including five other divisions, is going through the development process side by side.’

Mojibur Rahman sees Bangladesh at the cusp of new growth narrative

There are six divisions working under Powervision Limited: Power Division, Construction Machinery Division, Commercial Vehicles Division, Defence and Fire Service Machinery Division, Railway Machinery Division and Port Machinery Division. Anything concerning from infrastructure to building construction, he has his nose in it. The history of Bangladesh’s brick sector is one of the toxic fumes and atrocious working conditions. Thick black smoke from the country’s 7,000 brick kilns pollutes the air with particulate matter, carbon dioxide (CO2) and other harmful gases, driving climate change and harming human health. “There are more than 10000 manual brick industries and the government doesn’t want to allow them to run any further for environmental risk factors. But what about its alternative? We need bricks, right? So, the government suggested us to use brick, sand and cement to create blocks, as a result, I am concentrating more on the development of block making machinery and I have sold many projects here in Bangladesh.”  

The group has highly experienced engineers and technicians engaged in different corners of the country to cater to customer needs. The company has already established a vast network of sales service outlets in different corners of the country including all major cities. Some of their major local customers include Mir Akther Hossain Ltd., Abdul Monem Ltd, Toma Group, NDE, Crown Cement, Spectre Engineers Ltd, Jamuna Group, DBL Group, Meghna Group, Bashundhara Group, City Group, Sena Kalyan Sangstha, Chittagong Port Authority, Mongla Port Authority, Roads & Highways Division and Bangladesh Navy.

They are also serving some major international companies working in mega-infrastructure projects in Bangladesh such as China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited, China Railway Group Company Limited, China Power Group, Sinohydro, Xiang Xiang Construction Company Limited, Chongqing International Construction Limited, Italian Thai Development Corporation Limited, and Hebei Construction Company Limited, among others.

He was visibly elated when he said that, ‘ We have our involved in the country’s biggest infrastructural development projects like the Metro Rail, Padma Bridge, Airport project, Ruppur power plant, Rampal power plant and Matar bari power plant. We have supplied the latest construction machinery to the biggest infrastructure projects of Bangladesh.’

Powervision is determined to maintain higher standards in its products and services. It has its strategy of future progress through winning customer satisfaction from quality services. Bangladesh is a densely populated country and for its economic development, there is no other better plan than infrastructural development like building roads, bridges, tunnels and airports. Mojibur Rahman did not try to hide emotions when he said, ‘We would like to be part of the country’s development growth narrative and contribute meaningfully in its journey to becoming a developed country in 2041.’

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