BB law stands in way of exploring farming scope in Africa: FM

Bangladeshi farmers are unlikely to be able to gain any tangible success in exploring scope to cultivate lands in Africa due to some unfavorable provisions in the related Bangladesh Bank law, says Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, reports UNB.
Despite having the opportunity to ensure food security in Bangladesh and create huge employments through taking farmlands in Africa on lease, it has not been possible to have any marked success in this regard because of some provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act 1947of the Bangladesh Bank, he said in Parliament Wednesday.
The Foreign Minister's remarks came in reply to a starred question from Nurul Islam Sujan (Panchagar-2).
"Investors need tens of thousands of dollars to cultivate farmlands (in African countries), but the law does not allow them to bring more than US$5,000 to the countries," he said.
So far, only a Bangladeshi company, 'Bhati Bangla', has started cultivating rice, wheat, maize, fish, vegetables and fruits in Zambia taking farmlands on lease, he noted.
Some other Bangladesh companies are trying to take arable lands there on lease.
Against the backdrop of dwindling arable land in densely populated Bangladesh, the government has been working to take arable lands on long-term lease in African countries including Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia and South Sudan.