Abu Sazzad :
The Board of Investment (BoI) received 21,692.36 crore-investment proposals from the local and foreign investors during the second quarter (October to December) of the current fiscal 2015-16.
The investors will invest the said amount in 402 industrial units across the country, according to the latest data of BoI.
BoI received proposals from overseas investors for investing Tk 1, 138.24 crore in some fully foreign owned and joint venture units with local entrepreneurs.
The highest number of proposals came for the engineering industries, which was 25.98 percent of the total proposed amount. The chemical sector came next with 22.28 percent followed by service with 15.22 percent, agriculture with 13.98 percent and others 22.54 percent.
The investment proposal from local and foreign entrepreneurs would create a total of 56 thousand 216 jobs in the newly 402 registered industrial units.
Bangladesh needs at least $10 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) every year for achieving the expected level of economic growth or Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), said Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President Rupali Chowdhury to The New Nation recently.
The country received $1.5 to $2 billion FDI in the recent year, which is not sufficient to attain a vibrant economy, she said recently.
Many factors hindering the FDI in the country, she claimed. Efficient bureaucracy, simplification in procedures for FDI registration, improvement in legal infrastructure as well as acceleration in one-stop service provided by the Board of Investment are needed for attracting FDI at expected level, observed Rupali Chowdhury.
The number one obstacle in attracting FDI in Bangladesh is especially the bureaucratic complexities. The further reasons are lack of investors’ confidence and congenial environment, unavailability of land, institutional weakness and corruption.
The government should find out the reasons why new foreign investors are not making investment at expected level in the country, whereas existing foreign investors are earning profit and making reinvestment in the country, said Rupali Chowdhury.
FICCI members have been making many recommendations to the government for attracting FDI, she also mentioned.
Foreign investors are also concerned about inconsistency in the government’s policy, she said adding that government’s agreement with foreign investors should be watertight and it should not be changed along with the changes of governments.
She has underscored the need for strengthening the Board of Investment and ensuring coordination among the government agencies to facilitate the FDI.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Additional Research Director Khondaker Golam Moazzem has underscored the need for improving the supply chain to attract more FDI in the country.
The investment proposals registered with the BoI were not being materialized due to lack of infrastructure and supply chain, he claimed. An underdeveloped supply chain in the manufacturing sector is the main cause behind low FDI levels in Bangladesh.
The business climate is unfavourable as access to utilities, like electricity, gas, transportation, waste management and office space, are still inadequate and below investors’ expectations, said Khondaker Golam Moazzem.
FDI in the energy sector may have a causal relationship with corruption, he observed. Bangladesh’s private sector has been facing multi-dimensional challenges, and the emergence of new entrepreneurship has been constrained by poor skills caused by a lack of effective and quality education, Moazzem said.
Local and foreign investment in ready-made garment sector are key to achieving the $50 billion export target as envisaged by multi-stakeholders, said the leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) recently.
They observed that apart from investments, fixation of safety remediation, apparel diplomacy, labour rights, productivity enhancement and figuring out logistical needs of RMG sector need to be addressed in right earnest to meet the target.
The change in safety standards should not only be for Bangladesh it applies to other sourcing countries also, he observed.
BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman said the key to development is investment. The government will have to ensure various important things like gas, infrastructure development, especially roads and communication and competitive interest rate to enhance the country’s investment as the key issue of economic growth, said the BGMEA leader.
The sector people have to come up with a statistics of how much skilled workers, mid-level mangers and the capacity of port and other-related issues are needed to meet the export target as it would help the government reach a policy decision, said Khondaker Golam Moazzem.
The Board of Investment (BoI) received 21,692.36 crore-investment proposals from the local and foreign investors during the second quarter (October to December) of the current fiscal 2015-16.
The investors will invest the said amount in 402 industrial units across the country, according to the latest data of BoI.
BoI received proposals from overseas investors for investing Tk 1, 138.24 crore in some fully foreign owned and joint venture units with local entrepreneurs.
The highest number of proposals came for the engineering industries, which was 25.98 percent of the total proposed amount. The chemical sector came next with 22.28 percent followed by service with 15.22 percent, agriculture with 13.98 percent and others 22.54 percent.
The investment proposal from local and foreign entrepreneurs would create a total of 56 thousand 216 jobs in the newly 402 registered industrial units.
Bangladesh needs at least $10 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) every year for achieving the expected level of economic growth or Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), said Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President Rupali Chowdhury to The New Nation recently.
The country received $1.5 to $2 billion FDI in the recent year, which is not sufficient to attain a vibrant economy, she said recently.
Many factors hindering the FDI in the country, she claimed. Efficient bureaucracy, simplification in procedures for FDI registration, improvement in legal infrastructure as well as acceleration in one-stop service provided by the Board of Investment are needed for attracting FDI at expected level, observed Rupali Chowdhury.
The number one obstacle in attracting FDI in Bangladesh is especially the bureaucratic complexities. The further reasons are lack of investors’ confidence and congenial environment, unavailability of land, institutional weakness and corruption.
The government should find out the reasons why new foreign investors are not making investment at expected level in the country, whereas existing foreign investors are earning profit and making reinvestment in the country, said Rupali Chowdhury.
FICCI members have been making many recommendations to the government for attracting FDI, she also mentioned.
Foreign investors are also concerned about inconsistency in the government’s policy, she said adding that government’s agreement with foreign investors should be watertight and it should not be changed along with the changes of governments.
She has underscored the need for strengthening the Board of Investment and ensuring coordination among the government agencies to facilitate the FDI.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Additional Research Director Khondaker Golam Moazzem has underscored the need for improving the supply chain to attract more FDI in the country.
The investment proposals registered with the BoI were not being materialized due to lack of infrastructure and supply chain, he claimed. An underdeveloped supply chain in the manufacturing sector is the main cause behind low FDI levels in Bangladesh.
The business climate is unfavourable as access to utilities, like electricity, gas, transportation, waste management and office space, are still inadequate and below investors’ expectations, said Khondaker Golam Moazzem.
FDI in the energy sector may have a causal relationship with corruption, he observed. Bangladesh’s private sector has been facing multi-dimensional challenges, and the emergence of new entrepreneurship has been constrained by poor skills caused by a lack of effective and quality education, Moazzem said.
Local and foreign investment in ready-made garment sector are key to achieving the $50 billion export target as envisaged by multi-stakeholders, said the leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) recently.
They observed that apart from investments, fixation of safety remediation, apparel diplomacy, labour rights, productivity enhancement and figuring out logistical needs of RMG sector need to be addressed in right earnest to meet the target.
The change in safety standards should not only be for Bangladesh it applies to other sourcing countries also, he observed.
BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman said the key to development is investment. The government will have to ensure various important things like gas, infrastructure development, especially roads and communication and competitive interest rate to enhance the country’s investment as the key issue of economic growth, said the BGMEA leader.
The sector people have to come up with a statistics of how much skilled workers, mid-level mangers and the capacity of port and other-related issues are needed to meet the export target as it would help the government reach a policy decision, said Khondaker Golam Moazzem.
