'Diversify US investment in Bangladesh'

Bangladesh calls US entrepreneurs for diversification of their investments here as 90 per cent of the US investment is currently in the energy sector.

"We told the US businessmen that they should pour investment in other sectors apart from the energy sector," says foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen.

"There is a tremendous opportunity in our country for the investors," he adds.

Dr Momen, however, tells the delegates that Bangladesh needs huge investment in the renewable energy sector.

He said this to reporters after his meeting with a delegation of the US-Bangladesh Business Council on Monday where 27 representatives were present.

Dr Momen points out that the US investment in Bangladesh is meagre compared to other countries in the region like Malaysia or China.

The US-Bangladesh joint economic cooperation meeting will be held on June 02 in Washington and this delegation can provide inputs to that crucial meeting, he cites.

Responding to a query, Dr Momen says generalised system of preference (GSP) facility will not be that much beneficial to ready-made garment (RMG) as this sector becomes highly cost-effective.

GSP will rather be helpful if their import duty on RMG remains same for all countries, he notes, citing that some countries get 5.0-per cent duty under the TICFA.

The minister further says that as Bangladesh gets out of the LDC status, a free trade agreement (FTA) is more preferable to Bangladesh.

The US delegation shows interest in investing in the ICT sector. "We told them we have all the ingredients to make the ICT investment profitable for investors."

mirmostafiz@yahoo.com