BSEC Chairman seeks Japanese investment in BD capital market

Japanese investors can now take advantage of Bangladesh capital market as the return on investment is very high. Chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Prof Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam urged Japanese investor to invest in Bangladesh capital market at a seminar on Capital Market Investment opportunities for Japanese Investors in Bangladesh jointly organized by Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) and Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in association with Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) at EBL head office in Gulshan recently.

In his speech as chief guest, Prof Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam said, “When Bangladesh economy was moving forward availability of alternative source of finance for the business people was a must. Capital market is trying its best to come up with alternative source of finance.”

He said that in the public sector water sanitation, primary education, and other projects are coming through bonds from the government. He announced that commodity exchange is coming up very soon that will help inflationary control, supply chain management, logistic management. In commodity exchange also we can work together with Japan. He also announced investment road shows in Japan sometime later this year.

Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki, in his speech as special guest, said that the economic growth potential is very high in Bangladesh and praised the strong resilience of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. He emphasized that what Bangladesh needs to do is take care of the existing Japanese companies and if they are successful and enjoy good investment climate then they will be promoting Bangladesh as attractive investment destination.

The Japanese ambassador told BSEC chairman to organize road shows in Japan for improving the perception of Bangladesh.

DSE Chairman Md Eunusur Rahman said that Japan is giving assistance in big projects in Bangladesh and now they can think of investing in capital market as return on invest is very high. This will be win-win situation for both of the countries.

EBL Managing Director and CEO Ali Reza Iftekhar in his welcome speech said to sustain Bangladesh’s impressive economic growth trajectory capital market can play a key role to meet long-term financing needs of the country and businesses by providing bonds and other derivatives.

JETRO Country Representative Yuji Ando, in his presentation referring to a recent JETRO survey on Business Condition of Japanese companies operating in Asia and Oceania with focus on Bangladesh, said that 65 per cent Japanese companies operating in Bangladesh think that they would be able to make profit in 2022 and 68 per cent of them have plans to expand their businesses in next two years. He informed the seminar that currently 320 Japanese companies are doing business in Bangladesh.

Earlier, DSE Managing Director Tarique Amin Bhuiyan gave a detailed presentation on Bangladesh capital market and what are the basic requirements for foreign investors willing to invest in capital market.

EBL DMD and Corporate Banking Head Ahmed Shaheen gave a presentation on EBL and its subsidiaries and the banking facilities EBL is equipped with to channel foreign invest into capital market.

The seminar was participated by Japanese companies operating in Bangladesh and prospective investors from Japan joined through webinar.