BoI to sponsor road shows abroad to boost investors\\\' confidence

The Board of Investment (BoI) has taken a number of initiatives including road shows and business meets with foreign entrepreneurs to boost their confidence, officials said.
The road shows in England, the Netherlands and France would be held in the third week of March while the similar programme would be arranged in Japan in the third week of April.
A number of delegations including member from government officials and private entrepreneurs will leave Dhaka soon to attend the programmes.
"To boost the confidence of the foreign investors, the BoI has been taking a number of initiatives", a director of BoI told the FE.
He said this year they have a plan to arrange more than four road shows and a number of meetings with foreign entrepreneurs in several countries as the government seeks to attract more foreign investment.
He said at the road shows they will highlight the country's business potentials in several sectors for fresh investment.
According to the BoI, more than US$ 1.2 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) came in Bangladesh during the January-September period last year. The figure was $ 1.6 billion in 2013.
The BoI data showed the foreign investors want to invest in several sector including textile, ICT, software development, pharmaceuticals, hospital and medical equipment, tourism, infrastructure development, establishing vocational training institutions and generation of renewable energy.
Executive member of the BoI Nabhash Chandra Mandal said at the road shows, they want to share information with foreign investors.
He said they have introduced full automation of the Visa Support Services, Work Permit and Setting up of liaison offices to attract more FDI.
Mr Mandal said after introduction of the automated system, the foreign entrepreneurs are getting their service within a few hours. As a result many of overseas investors are showing interest to invest here.
He said for the private sector development the government has taken up a number of initiatives including road shows and meetings with foreign investors.
President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said there are a number of opportunities in several sectors in the country for foreign entrepreneurs.
He said it is a good initiative as the government has been arranging road shows in several countries for boosting up the FDI (foreign direct investment).
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