Bangladesh plans to introduce an artificial intelligence-based data analysis system to keep supplies of essential and sensitive goods stable, Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muqtadir said on Tuesday. He announced the initiative while speaking as chief guest at an e-commerce implementation meeting at the Commerce Ministry conference room. Ministry Secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan chaired the meeting.

The minister said ministries and agencies dealing with agriculture, food, industry and other sectors need an integrated management system to assess domestic production, import dependence and products supplied through a mix of local output and imports. He identified supply shortages as a frequent cause of price increases and said authorities must prepare in advance when production or import sources face problems, so abrupt shortages do not destabilize markets.

The proposed platform would analyze 10 years of market, production, import-export and international market data to support faster decisions. It is expected to identify possible shortages, favorable import sources, exporters’ capacity and advantageous purchasing periods. The Commerce Ministry said it would work jointly with relevant ministries and agencies, building a database from government information as well as international open-source and subscription-based sources.