While talking to reporters after a meeting of the US-Bangladesh Business Council on Thursday Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said that the United States is interested to strengthen economic ties with Bangladesh by investing more in different sectors including automobile, agriculture, energy and digital transaction. Also, in the meeting, the US investors wanted to know about the prevailing facilities for investment in Bangladesh. It is worth mentioning that earlier on Tuesday Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the US Businesses to come with more investments in Bangladesh in potential and productive sectors for mutual benefits.
Over the last 10 years, FDI has been playing an essential role in maintaining the tempo of the current economic development of Bangladesh. Considering the country’s prevailing investment-friendly policies and overall development, foreign companies are showing their zeal to invest in Bangladesh.
Experts are of the opinion that global inflation, supply chain disruptions and the Russia-Ukraine war might disrupt the growth of FDI in the country in the coming days. On top of that, soaring transport costs due to a hike in fuel oil prices, fuel and electricity shortages, and significant devaluation of the local currency taka could be a heavy drag on the FDI inflow.
FDI has immensely contributed
to reinforcing foreign reserves,
creating new job opportunities
and increasing labour skills in recent times
FDI has immensely contributed to reinforcing foreign reserves, creating new job opportunities and increasing labour skills in recent times. Needless to say, all these are the consequences of the government’s earnest endeavours and various time-befitting policies to attract investors and to create a congenial atmosphere for boosting the FDI inflow. It needs to be mentioned that the incumbent government pursues the most liberal investment policy in South Asia which incorporates protection of FDI by law and duty-free import of raw materials.
We need to step up efforts and devise necessary initiatives to attract more foreign investments. Following the other Asian countries which have been able to attract massive FDI, Bangladesh should devise necessary measures to develop more infrastructures, build more skilled workforce, improve connectivity and encourage high-tech for a sustainable economic growth. Though FDI has been increasing over the years, experts say that yet there is room for further investment in the coming days, especially in the post-corona era. Hence, necessary steps should be taken to ensure better business facilities alongside market diversification to garner more FDI. Last but not least, business-friendly environment, taxation reform and long-term policy are needed to boost FDI inflow.
