Country's leading businessmen and economists Saturday expressed the fear that the Friday's Gulshan restaurant siege by terrorists may affect the inflow of foreign investment (FDI) and exports.
They termed the incident as fatal and unwanted and strongly condemned it. Besides, they said, the terror attack that claimed lives of 20 foreign nationals, two police officials and left at least 40 police personnel injured would dent the country's image abroad.
The businesses urged the government to initiate concerted efforts immediately to restore the country's tarnished image abroad.
"We are shocked. The incident will cast a negative impact on our overall exports and the foreign direct investment (FDI),"
President of Bangladesh Exporters Association (BEA) Abdus Salam Murshedy told the FE.
He said the country's entrepreneurs had to travel abroad for negotiations with their foreign buyers as they (foreign buyers) avoided visits to Bangladesh due to political unrest in the recent past.
Mr Murshedy, who is also the managing director of Envoy Group, said if such incident recurs in the future the importers/ foreign buyers might not visit Bangladesh for their personal security reasons.
Vice-President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Mahbubul Alam termed the terror attack as a national crisis.
"It is a national crisis. We condemn such a heinous attack. It is a stab on our back with a view to retard our ongoing economic progress," he told the FE.
Former adviser to the caretaker government Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam said the incident would cast a negative impact on the country's image and it could also slow down export and hamper FDI flow into Bangladesh.
He suggested the businessmen and the government to persuade the foreign buyers and governments to make efforts for projecting a bright image of Bangladesh abroad.
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