Bangladesh model of economic dev: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged Chinese business leaders to invest in Bangladesh. Addressing a seminar on ‘Bangladesh Marching Ahead’ organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Beijing on Tuesday, the Prime Minister described Bangladesh as a ‘model of economic development’. She said Chinese investors can go for joint ventures with Bangladesh entrepreneurs in pharmaceuticals, ceramics, tourism, road and rail communications, petrochemicals and agro-based industries. Stressing on the low labour cost in Bangladesh, Hasina said that Chinese companies now have the opportunity to relocate their factories as the cost of production in China has gone up sharply. Hasina said that Chinese investment now stands at more than $300 million in Bangladesh (as of December 2013). ‘Around 300 more Chinese investment proposals, worth $ 2.3 billion have registered with our Board of Investment,’ she mentioned. Describing, Bangladesh’s FDI policies as a ‘friendly’ one, the prime minister said that it offers legal protection against nationalisation and expropriation of capital and dividend. ‘Another added attraction is that as an LDC, Bangladesh is enjoying duty-free and quota-free market access to the EU and almost all developed countries,’ she said. The prime minister said that her government was determined to increase the power output so that industry would have no problem. ‘We are also increasing our power capacity to ensure that foreign investments thrive and prosper. At present, our current power need of 7,000 MW is met by the output, but our production capacity exceeds 11,000 MW,’ she added, according to bdnews24.com.