Strategic investment plan under way

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A Z M Anas
The Board of Investment (BoI) is close to crafting its first ever 'comprehensive,' long-term strategic plan as the government agency moves to fight off a slowdown in investment inflow.
The investment promotion agency will sit with private sector captains, foreign investors, chamber leaders and experts on Tuesday next to help finalise the three-year plan before submitting it to the Chief Adviser's Office in mid-March, board officials said.
"It's a huge urgency. The global environment for investment is also competitive," a senior BoI official said.
"We need to have a sophisticated plan to attract foreign investors to Bangladesh. And that requires achieveable targets. The plan will be prepared keeping the targets in minds," the official added.
He said if finalised, the plan would be submitted to the chief adviser on March 15 for his approval.
BOI officials said although the plan will primarily be a long-term one, there will be short and medium term action plans to attract increased foreign investment.
Bangladesh Bank said foreign investment has slowed down in recent months, citing no reasons for the poor inflow.
The central bank figures say the country received net foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $ 329 million in July-November period of the current fiscal, down by $14 million of the same period in the last fiscal.
The government's dilemma to give a seal of approval to mega-investment proposals is largely blamed for the lower capital infusion into the country.
Tata's $3.0 billion-odd investment proposal in steel, fertiliser, power and coal mining has been pending for a government approval since mid 2006.
Asia Energy has already spent some $15 million in Phulbari coalmine. But its $2.5 billion investment proposals to extract coal from the mine and build two 500 megawatt power plants, however, failed to get a go-ahead from the government.
In addition, the board, which monitors the investment registration, is also flooded with investment proposals worth another $5.0 billion from some of the world's top companies.
The move to prepare the 'comprehensive' plan by the investment board follows a directive from chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, who also heads the agency.
Officials said the consultation meeting will help the board identify its problems and set 'right' priorities in view of the competitive global environment for investment.
They said the International Finance Corporation, the private lending arm of the World Bank, will also assist the board in drafting a realistic plan.
Board officials said the investment promotion agency would act on the strategic plan to promote Bangladesh as a lucrative investment destination.
"We've already done a thorough assessment of the board. The IFC review will be helpful in preparing the strategic plan," Syed Akhtar Mahmood, a senior IFC official, said.
He said the global lender has assigned an expert to aid the country's investment promotion agency to hone the plan.
The plan will identify promising sectors where foreign investors can invest and the countries from which Bangladesh can tap increased foreign investment, the board officials said.
While Asian emerging economies like China, India, Pakistan and Vietnam are benefiting from significant foreign investments, Bangladesh trails behind.
The country, which received about $792 million FDI in 2006, is still considered an under-performer in case of attracting FDI, with poor infrastructure, instability, weak governance and corruption being cited as major roadblocks to the increased flows.