Bangladesh to showcase development to woo investors

Bangladesh will showcase its infrastructural development and economic zones in Expo 2020 Dubai, scheduled to kick off next month, to woo investors.

“We expected to get a good response from the expo. We will highlight our investment opportunities and export goods. We plan to focus on branding our country,” Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told The Business Post.

In the expo, 192 countries are expected to participate. The main site will be a 438-hectare area located between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Initially scheduled for October 20, 2020, to April 10 this year, the coronavirus pandemic pushed back the event. It will run from October 1, 2021, to March 31 next year. It is the first time a world exposition has been postponed to a later date rather than cancelled.

Bangladesh has been allocated a two-storied pavilion at the expo. The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the state-owned export promoter, is part of the Ministry of Commerce leading the Bangladeshi part.

According to EPB, Bangladesh plans to decorate its pavilion in two segments. The top floor will be reserved for arranging seminars, dialogues, and other gatherings where delegates from various countries, ambassadors, investors, buyers, and Bangladeshi exporters will participate.

The ground floor will be open for exhibitors. There will be audiovisual presentations on Bangladesh’s history, culture, heritage, innovation, and progress.

On this floor, a special zone will be reserved for Bangabandhu, which will showcase his lifelong struggle, uncompromising leadership, unlimited sacrifice for the liberation of Bangladesh, rebuilding a war-ravaged economy and unfathomable love for the people.

A zone reserved for displays will showcase activities to achieve the sustainable development goal. It will highlight mega projects, 10 special initiatives, and other development activities to inform the world about the country’s progress towards sustainability.

Another zone will focus on the investment environment in Bangladesh for foreign investors. Here, the country will visualise the activities of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, 100 economic zones, high-tech and software parks, and other investment-friendly initiatives, includes one-stop services, for foreign investors.

“This is one of our main zones, where we will try to attract investors. We created massive business opportunities in Bangladesh that attracted a huge amount of foreign investment. We will arrange seminars and symposiums in this exhibition where BEZA, BIDA, high-tech authority and other government institutes will highlight their activities to attract investors,” Abu Mukhles Alamgir Hossain, deputy director (international fair and display) of EPB, told The Business Post.

At this international event, Bangladesh will try to woo buyers to boost export. EPB has already written to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries and other major exporters’ associations to provide the best innovative products for display at the expo.

“There won’t be any fees for displaying products. We will display the best samples to attract buyers and represent our country,” said Alamgir.

“It will be a chance to focus on our tourism sector too. Bangladesh has the world’s longest sea beach and the largest mangrove forest, among others. We will focus on our tourism sector to attract tourists and tourism investors,” he said.