Curing the image problem

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Foreign direct investments (FDIs) into Bangladesh continue to be a trickle whereas other countries in its neighbourhood continue to be major beneficiaries of FDIs. China is at the top in receiving FDIs. But India and Pakistan are also receiving FDIs which are much bigger than the amounts received by Bangladesh, although these subcontinental countries are probably not offering remarkably better conditions of investment or returns to the foreign investors than Bangladesh. Thus, it is time to analyse what are the major constraints standing in the way of attracting a much greater volume of FDIs by Bangladesh and to address them promptly and effectively. Any sound analysis in this respect is very likely to show that the biggest bottleneck 'apparently' is the country's inadequate energy supply. Investors in many cases get scared by tendentious or poorly written pieces in the media about insufficient power and gas in Bangladesh. For example, there is hardly any knowledge among investors abroad that in the last two years, the government has been able to increase power generation from a paltry 3,500mw to nearly 5,000mw. This added generation capacity is meeting largely the current demand for electricity. More significant is the fact that the government remains engaged dedicatedly in a fast-track programme to boost power production to the about 10,000mw by the time it ends its tenure in 2015. A similar energetic programme and its execution is noted to increase gas production and find new reserves of gas. Already, some large gas fields have been discovered and the same are being readied for sending supplies to the national gas grid at the fastest. Thus, the energy situation is looking up as a whole and foreign investors can expect steady and reliable supplies of energy in Bangladesh in the mid to longer terms. But how many potential foreign investors know about this fast improving energy situation in Bangladesh? Perhaps, only a few. It would not be an overstatement to say that Bangladesh has been suffering--most undeservedly--from an unfavourable perception abroad. There are many determinants to attracting FDIs such as a positive macroeconomic environment, sound state of infrastructures, easily trainable workers, good terms and conditions for repatriation of capital and profit by the investors, etc. Bangladesh is not lacking so much in these aspects in relation to its neighbours. In fact, its labour cost is lower than even China or other countries in the South Asian region. Its infrastructures need upgrading and improvement but are not so bad as to divert foreign investments on a large scale. Its macro economy, with some slumps, has been stable on the whole for a long period. The macroeconomic indicators have improved considerably in recent years. Besides, the aptitude of its workforce to adapt to the requirements and training of foreign funded enterprises is noted to be relatively good. Certainly, the conditions for FDIs in Bangladesh can be further improved or need to be improved. But the same can be no reasons for greater foreign investments not coming into the country. Bangladesh should have been a notable investment destination for foreign investors by now from whatever opportunities it presently extends to them. Why the investors have not responded yet to these opportunities, if one main answer is sought to this question, it could be that potential investors are mainly unaware about what this country has to offer to them or they are demotivated by an image problem of the country that does no justice to it. First of all, there is much information gap about Bangladesh abroad. It is not known by many intending investors that Bangladesh has developed a world-class export-oriented apparel industry, that it exports high quality shrimp and frozen foods, that it has much potential to make and export a wide range of environmentally friendly products which have rising demand in the world market and that the biggest components of production costs, wages to be paid to labour, are the cheapest by world comparisons in Bangladesh that should help them to be very competitive. If such information were extensively disseminated by Bangladeshi missions, some 60 of them round the world, then the same could have a notable impact in channeling FDIs into the country. What the Department of External Publicity does in relation to this need or why this wing is not enabled to carry out adequate publicity to this end, poses a big question. The local press and local correspondents of the foreign media, operating from Bangladesh, should take the lead in reporting extensively the success stories of Bangladesh in the economic spheres instead of emphasising only the negatives of the country. The chamber bodies should also work together to project the country regularly in a favourable light through organising international seminars, publicities in international business media, holding of exhibitions of Bangladeshi products abroad and circulation of information about the good rates of return from investment in Bangladesh. The publicities ought to singularly counteract the canard that Bangladesh is a singularly law and order problems ridden country and credibly expose it to the foreign investors that law and order conditions in Bangladesh are at least equal to, if not better, compared to the other countries of South Asia.