BBCC members intend to invest $50m in different sectors of country

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FE Report
Visiting members of Bangladesh-British Chamber of Commerce (BBCC) want to invest $50m in hotel and tourism, real estate and fisheries sectors, said its regional chief Iqbal Ahmed Saturday.
"Our 47 team-members are keen in invest in hotel and tourism, real estate and agro-based sectors in Sylhet, Dhaka, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar," Mr Iqbal, a renowned Bangladeshi businessman, told the FE.
Members of the BBCC, which was set up in 1981, are now in a visit to Bangladesh and they are studying the potential sectors. The team will leave Bangladesh on November 21.
Mr Iqbal said some members of his team have already been in the final stage of negotiations for setting up an international hotel in Dhaka.
He said they are also interested in light engineering products because of their huge demand in Britain.
Sagir Bokht, chairman of BBCC, told the FE that they earmarked 2000 acres of land at Pubail in Gazipur to set up apartments.
He also said his team members also prepared the plan for a project to set up a fishery farm in Sylhet adding "The fishery project will cover more than 1000 acres of land."
Sagir said they are making a list of potential sectors and it will be given to the British High Commission in Dhaka for taking follow-up measures.
Mr Iqbal, an OBE (Order of British Empire), said many non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) in Britain are now investing in countries of the Middle-East, Europe and Africa in different sectors because of lack of facilities in Bangladesh.
He said Middle-Eastern countries are now offering attractive facilities like tax exemption and free land to foreign investors, and NRBs are taking these offers.
"Bureaucratic red-tapism has gripped the system. Many NRBs cannot enter into business due to existing bureaucratic tangle," Iqbal added.
Iqbal, who is also chairman of Seamark, a fish processing plant in the UK having turnover worth $400 million, said BBCC has over 5000 members and most of them are genuine entrepreneurs.