Talks with foreign investors on to boost FDI, says BoI chief

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FE Report
The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh is much low despite high growth of the same in south-east Asian countries, chief of Board of Investment (BoI) said Tuesday.
BoI Executive Chairman SA Samad said, "Our FDI is around US$1.0 billion a year. But FDI inflow in India, Sri Lanka and other south-east Asian countries is much higher than that in Bangladesh."
"Even a politically and socially instable regional economy like Pakistan received more FDI than Bangladesh."
Mr Samad who was speaking at the monthly luncheon programme of AmCham (American Chamber of Commerce) said that Bangladesh's FDI flow should be at least $10 billion a year.
Presided over by AmCham President Aftab Ul Islam, the meeting was attended by former finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, acting deputy chief of the US Embassy Heather Variava and Canadian High Commissioner Robert McDougall.
The BoI chief admitted that due to typical bureaucratic culture entrepreneurs might have faced some difficulties in some departments of the BoI and other investment facilitating agencies.
He however urged the business community to invest more in value added manufacturing sectors instead of labour-intensive clothing and textiles to diversify portfolios and attract FDI in the country.
Mr Samad said investment in Bangladesh is much secured saying: "No foreign investors have so far incurred loss of their money in our country."
The BoI chief said his office is now negotiating with some big investors in the fields of energy, coal exploration, power, gas, telecom and deep-sea port.
"We are talking about some fresh and large FDI projects including those in infrastructure sector," Samad told the monthly luncheon meeting of the AmCham.
The BoI executive chairman did not disclose the names of the companies but said some of those were from the USA.
He also said that some foreign investors were talking with BoI on some industries to be relocated from Korea, China and Thailand.
Speaking as the guest of honour at the luncheon, Samad gave a presentation on the investment prospects, spelling out the comparative incentives being provided for foreign investors in Bangladesh.