Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is planning to make a big investment in Bangladesh along with further expanding bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries, officials said on Thursday.
They said a high-powered Saudi delegation is scheduled to arrive next month to explore Riyadh’s investment opportunities in Bangladesh.
During the visit, the delegation will hold meetings with senior government officials, relevant state agencies and trade body leaders to discuss their planned investment in Bangladesh.
“The team is expected to place multi billion dollars investment proposal during its visit to Bangladesh,” a senior Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) official told The New Nation yesterday, on condition of anonymity.
He said the oil rich Gulf nation is keen to invest commercially viable projects in Bangladesh focusing on fertilizer, cement and power plants and physical infrastructure.
The Prime Minister’s Office earlier directed the BIDA to coordinate and monitor Saudi investment related issues.
BIDA in a recent letter, signed by its Director Ariful Huq, sought a list of proposed investment projects under all the Ministries so that Saudi investment can be channelised there.
The letter reads, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had a fruitful discussion with the Saudi government about investing in various projects in Bangladesh during her four-day visit to Saudi Arabia in October 2018.
During the visit, Hasina called for more Saudi investment and to explore business opportunities in Bangladesh. She also offered a special economic zone out of 100 special economic zones to Saudi investors.
In continuation of this, Saudi Arabia’s Ministers for Commerce and Investment and Economy and representatives of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Saudi Fund for Development (SDF) will visit Bangladesh on 10-11 February.
The letter also reads, “There has been a preparatory meeting on January 9 where all government Ministries and agencies have been given guidelines over materializing Saudi investment in prospective sectors.”
Officials said, Bangladesh has already selected a number of prospective sectors expecting a large volume of investment from the KSA.
The sectors are: petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, services, telecommunications, ICT, power and energy, physical infrastructure, agro processing and shipbuilding.
BIDA on Wednesday convened a meeting to discuss the possible areas of the KSA’s investment in Bangladesh, with its Executive Chairman Kazi M Aminul Islam in the chair.
Concerned government officials attended the meeting with full list of proposed foreign aided projects under all Ministries.
“We have already identified prospective sectors expecting considerable amount of investment from Saudi Arabia. But, we will leave it to the delegation as per their investment preferences,” BIDA Executive Chairman Kazi M Aminul Islam told The New Nation.
He said Riyadh is eager to set up a fertilizer factory, oil refinery and cement manufacturing plant as part of its planned investment in Bangladesh.
“We are hopeful of having a fruitful discussion with the high-powered Saudi delegation. During the discussion, the Saudi delegation will be informed about the recent economic development of Bangladesh looking at new areas of engagement covering trade and investment promotion.”
When asked, Kazi M Aminul Islam said, “We are expecting big Saudi investment banking on expanded bilateral trade and investment cooperation between Riyadh and Dhaka. A major breakthrough in this regard is expected to come following the visit of Saudi delegation.”
Earlier, the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Dhaka in a letter to the Ministry of Commerce said businessmen of the Kingdom were keen to expand investment in Bangladesh and requested the Ministry to inform it about the areas where Bangladesh expect investment.
Saudi Arabia also sought information on big infrastructure projects undertaken by the government of Bangladesh.
“All the information will be sent to Riyadh soon aiming at expanding new areas of economic cooperation,” said BIDA Executive Chairman.
More than one and a half million Bangladeshi professionals and workers are living in the KSA, making it Bangladesh’s single largest source of remittance earnings.
Bangladeshi expatriates living in the Kingdom sent US$2.59 billion remittance in the last fiscal (2017-18). The country’s total remittance inflow hit US$14.97 billion during the period, according to Bangladesh Bank.
Though trade between the two nations has increased significantly in the recent years, still it remains modest level. Bangladesh exports to the KSA were around $350 million in the last fiscal, whereas Bangladesh’s imports from the KSA stood at around $750 million during the period.
