'After slowdown, Bangladesh-Germany business picking up'
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
M Azizur Rahman
Bangladesh would be a very lucrative country for overseas investments if political stability was established and it continued to persist, said Boris Alex, a correspondent for German Office for Foreign Trade.
"Investors are now watching the political developments and the Bangladesh market of around 150 million people closely," Alex, who is now in the city to explore business and investment potentials in Bangladesh, told a selected group of journalists Monday.
He said the German investors would come up with huge investments in the next two years if they were convinced of the developments and the election to establish an elected government in the country.
"Investors usually don't like to hold talks on the same issue twice within a short span of time," Alex said referring to the current lull in fresh investment in Bangladesh, which is heading towards an election by 2008.
German investors would be looking forward to investing in the growing textile, power and infrastructure sectors in Bangladesh, he added.
Responding to a query he said cheap labour cannot go a long way to attract foreign investment. The workers must be skilled as well, he said adding the government should strengthen the existing education system to produce highly skilled manpower.
Alex, who is now in his maiden visit to Bangladesh, has already met top officials of Board of Investment (BoI) and plans to talk with top officials of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) and Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) before leaving the country.
He will submit a report of his observation on business and investment prospects of Bangladesh to the German Foreign office after the visit.
Pointing to the bilateral trade between Germany and Bangladesh, the Deputy Head of Mission of German embassy in Bangladesh Holger Fraider said after last year's slowdown it is now picking up.
In 2007, the bilateral trade declined by 8.8 per cent compared to the previous year, when the two-way trade amounted to 1.71 billion euro compared to 1.88 billion euro in 2006.
Bangladesh would be a very lucrative country for overseas investments if political stability was established and it continued to persist, said Boris Alex, a correspondent for German Office for Foreign Trade.
"Investors are now watching the political developments and the Bangladesh market of around 150 million people closely," Alex, who is now in the city to explore business and investment potentials in Bangladesh, told a selected group of journalists Monday.
He said the German investors would come up with huge investments in the next two years if they were convinced of the developments and the election to establish an elected government in the country.
"Investors usually don't like to hold talks on the same issue twice within a short span of time," Alex said referring to the current lull in fresh investment in Bangladesh, which is heading towards an election by 2008.
German investors would be looking forward to investing in the growing textile, power and infrastructure sectors in Bangladesh, he added.
Responding to a query he said cheap labour cannot go a long way to attract foreign investment. The workers must be skilled as well, he said adding the government should strengthen the existing education system to produce highly skilled manpower.
Alex, who is now in his maiden visit to Bangladesh, has already met top officials of Board of Investment (BoI) and plans to talk with top officials of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) and Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) before leaving the country.
He will submit a report of his observation on business and investment prospects of Bangladesh to the German Foreign office after the visit.
Pointing to the bilateral trade between Germany and Bangladesh, the Deputy Head of Mission of German embassy in Bangladesh Holger Fraider said after last year's slowdown it is now picking up.
In 2007, the bilateral trade declined by 8.8 per cent compared to the previous year, when the two-way trade amounted to 1.71 billion euro compared to 1.88 billion euro in 2006.