Businesses for joint chambers’ synergy to boost FDI

Business leaders on Thursday called for an effective collaboration among the joint chambers to address the prevailing constrains for boosting FDI (foreign direct investment) in Bangladesh.
Terming Bangladesh's present regime for investment quite attractive in comparison with many Asian countries, they said despite having immense potentials Bangladesh could not receive desired level of FDI, mainly due to insufficient infrastructure, port facilities, and energy and gas.  
But sustainable networking among joint chambers under the guidelines of the country's investment promoter - Board of Investment (BoI) - could play a productive role through strengthening the voices of business people in trade and investment policy formulation as well as attracting FDI, according to them.
The observations came in the country's first-ever Joint Chambers' Meet Up, organised by Canada Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CanCham Bangladesh) in association with BoI at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) auditorium.
BoI Executive Chairman Dr S A Samad was present in the programme, moderated by CanCham Bangladesh President Masud Rahman. Office-bearers and representatives from various joint chambers also spoke in it.
In his welcome address, the CanCham Bangladesh president said joint chambers can play pivotal role to promote trade and investment among Bangladesh and other countries through proper use of resources.
He said various constrains in the areas of infrastructure, port, and energy and gas hold back the country's expected level of progress in attracting trades and investments.
"The joint chambers have a role to address those properly, as they did in Thailand. In fact, the joint chambers can act like bridges among Bangladesh and other countries," he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce Jahangir Bin Alam said BoI should act faster in the way Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion did under the slogan - 'Invest Punjab' - to attract FDI inflow.
He said the investors do not need to go offices of various departments or agencies concerned to make investments in Punjab.
"It takes less than a month to complete all the formalities under one umbrella. I think BoI should adopt such system, if we want to promote investment here," he said.
Talking about investment, President of Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce Hasan Khaled said a number of investors in the Netherlands and Belgium have recently shown interest to invest in some potential sectors in Bangladesh.
He said many investors will be coming here, if there is no gas shortage and infrastructure insufficiency, especially regarding road networking.
Director of Nordic Chamber of Commerce and Regional Head (Bangladesh and Pakistan) of H&M Roger Hubert hailed Bangladesh's achievement in reaching export target and many MDGs (Millennium Development Goals).
He said the Nordic countries want to focus more on issues like resource efficiency as well as labour, water and chemical issues in the coming days, and Bangladesh could be benefited by this.
President of Philippines-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce R Maksud Khan gave full credits to the private sector for taking Bangladesh's economy to a stable position with 6.0 per cent plus growth for the last several years.
"We need to up further. In the globalised world many opportunities are coming up with many challenges, and we need to overcome those to take the economy to the next level," he said.
Speaking as the chief guest, the BoI executive chairman underscored the need for sustainable networking among the joint chambers, operating in Bangladesh, for attracting foreign investment.
He said the economic and social indicators of Bangladesh are showing commendable progress over the years, and simultaneously FDI inflow has been increasing steadily.  
He said there are seven investment agencies in the country, like - EPB (Export Promotion Bureau), PPP (Public Private Partnership), EPZ (Export Processing Zone), and BSCIC (Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation), and all are under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
"The investors don't need to come to BoI office, as it has already been fully automated. You (investors) will get everything from online," he said.
Talking about power and gas, he said the country has made remarkable progress in power, which will be available, but forgotten gas, as the government does not promote gas-based industries here.
"So, we're looking for alternatives," he said, adding that there will be no problem in managing land for foreign investors because of having special economic zones (SEZs).  
He further delineated that the government has identified 27 locations for establishing SEZs, and called upon leaders of the joint chambers to come forward for investment.
Mr. Samad said physical infrastructure needs to be upgraded manifold, and some US$ 7-8 billion is required in this connection to attain 8.0 per cent economic growth in the coming years that the country is looking for.
Bangladesh received some $ 1.7 billion as net FDI in last fiscal year, FY 15, which was 18.7 per cent higher than the amount in FY 14 ($1.4 billion).
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