PM invites British investors to grab opportunities in Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday invited British investors to be part of Bangladesh’s development journey by investing in a host of lucrative sectors.

“Sectors including energy, shipbuilding, automobile, blue economy, tourism, knowledge-based hi-tech industries, ICT and are awaiting foreign investment, and British investors can choose any of these and beyond,” she said.

Hasina was addressing the ‘Bangladesh Investment Summit 2021: Building Sustainable Growth Partnerships and Roadshow’ inauguration ceremony at the Churchill Hall, Queen Elizabeth Centre in London.

British Minister of State for Trade Policy Penny Mordaunt also spoke at the program.

Sheikh Hasina also offered exclusive economic zones where companies of a specific country can invest, adding, the UK investors can take one such zone for themselves.

As many as 100 economic zones and 28 high-tech parks are being made ready for overseas and domestic investments, she said.

Referring to the demographic dividend, she said they focus on developing skilled manpower so that the investors get skilled human resources at competitive wages.

“Let me assure you that our government agencies, including the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, will do their best to ensure a congenial business environment for you,” she added.

The PM said her government will provide the British investors with ample opportunities for the best possible returns on their investment.

Mentioning that quite a few major business organizations are operating successfully in Bangladesh, she said, “I would thus like to welcome more companies to come forward and invest in Bangladesh's capital market.”

The premier said, “The Roadshow would, of course, get impetus by displaying Bangladesh's potentialities with rewards of high returns from business and investments.”

According to ADB Outlook 2019, she said, Bangladesh is the fastest growing economy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Already Bangladesh is the 31st largest economy in the world based on PPP, she said.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has become an attractive investment destination recently due to rapid urbanization, increasing consumption of electricity, the rapid growth of middle-class consumers with increasing purchasing power; growing connectivity with massive markets in South and South East Asia.

“We have been heavily investing in the development of infrastructures, including energy and power, and road and railway communication,” she added.

To feed the current and future growth of industries and overall development, she said, electricity production capacity has reached over 24,000 Megawatts (MW) with the target of 40,000 MW by 2030 and 60,000 MW by 2041.

“We are also constantly improving our legal and financial infrastructures. And foreign investment is protected by Acts of Parliament, and bilateral treaties,” she said.

She also mentioned that Bangladesh's ICT sector is growing fast now with a billion-dollar export to 60 countries.

ARR