Investors interested to invest $1.16b: DCCI

Foreign investors who participated in Bangladesh Trade and Investment Summit 2021 expressed interest to invest $1.16 billion, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Rizwan Rahman said on Monday.

The summit, held from October 26 to November 1, was jointly organised by DCCI and the Ministry of Commerce, marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Bangladesh’s golden jubilee of independence.

“We arranged 450 business-to-business meetings, of which 369 were successfully executed. Representatives of 552 local and foreign companies from 38 countries, including Bangladesh, participated in these meetings. The execution rate was 82 per cent,” Rahman told a press briefing on the summit’s outcome declaration.

“Total potential investment interest was $1.16 billion,” he said. “A Chinese company has shown interest to invest $1 billion in infrastructure.” Rahman said 20 companies from 13 countries showed interest in joint ventures. “We also identified 26 potential export products from Bangladesh,” he noted.

Companies from five countries said they were interested in investing in sectors such as infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, baby bottles, umbrellas, agriculture, food processing and IT. He said that power, energy, renewable energy, dairy products, fast-moving consumer goods, readymade garment products, leather, automobile, and jute are some sectors with foreign investment opportunities.

At various sessions, speakers underscored improving ease of doing business, policy reforms, technology adaptation, skill development, fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, strong economic diplomacy and signing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) or Preferential trade arrangements (PTAs) with potential trading partners.

“Bangladesh is capable of grabbing huge investment opportunities in African, Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern countries,” he said.

Bangladesh is already a member of blocs like SAFTA, APTA, and D-8. We need to go for PTA or FTA with other major trading partners, Rahman noted.

He said speakers at a session called for a vibrant and robust bond market and innovative blended financing model to ensure long-term infrastructure financing.

Rizwan emphasised enhancing bilateral trade with the Middle Eastern countries to access the Halal market for boosting Bangladesh’s economy. “Now we have to pay greater attention to export, product and market diversification,” the business leader said.

At the closing ceremony, Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said global leaders should provide proper financing to help Bangladesh tackle post-LDC graduation challenges.

He said the country would need to sign FTAs or PTAs with potential trading partners once it formally graduates from the LDC bloc. Averaging duty structure on both sides is critical before signing FTA and the government is working on this matter.

“For FTA, drastically duty cut is not possible as it may hamper internal revenue generation and local manufacturers but it may be considered gradually,” he added. Besides, it is the government’s duty to safeguard the interests of local industries.

Regarding the ease of doing business, Tapan said the government was trying to bring all its major services under automation to simplify the process in the future.

Responding to a question, he said that the government would consider the demand for an economic zone, specially dedicated to the leather industry.

He agreed with the suggestion to allow the bond facility to other export-oriented industries to replicate RMG success model to make them competitive.

“The Ministry of Commerce and DCCI successfully organised the summit to showcase Bangladesh’s readiness to attract investment event after Covid-19 period and brand the country’s positive image,” the secretary added.