Govt moves to restore investors\\\' confidence

The government has taken a number of initiatives including road shows to restore confidence of local and foreign investors, officials have said.
"After the general election held last month, the most challenging task for the government is now to restore confidence of entrepreneurs so that they come up with new investments or reinvestments," said an official concerned.
The Board of Investment (BoI) has planned to hold several meetings on investment with local and foreign entrepreneurs aiming to earn confidence of investors about Bangladesh as one of the most potential places for trade.
"We are going to take various initiatives including two international road shows in the current calendar year to attract new investments", a director of the BoI told the FE.
He said the BoI was actively looking for local and foreign direct investments (FDI) in sectors like textile, plastic, light engineering, home textile, ICT (information communication technology), software development, ITES, jute and jute goods, pharmaceuticals, hospital  and medical equipment, tourism, infrastructure development and rubber products.
He said the BoI had planned to arrange several meetings in countries including China and Qatar to woo investors to invest in several sectors.
Another director of the BoI told the FE that they had been trying to share information with local and foreign investors on the investment climate, sector-wise opportunities, investment incentives, policies and market practices.
He said due to the government's pragmatic steps in recent times the power supply situation improved significantly, which was the prime demand of an investor.
"We are trying to inform the investors of the latest improvement in power supply and digital Bangladesh", he added.
President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed told the FE: "It's good news to all that the government has taken a set of initiatives for attracting new investments or reinvestments".  
He said after the general election economic activity was improving but the investors' confidence was still low.
Mr Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told the FE that the international buyers were now placing a lot of orders as the country's political situation was good now.
He said after the general election on January 5 the buyers had drawn up a long-term plan on business in Bangladesh as they were regaining confidence.
Mr Jahangir Alamin, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), told the FE that now normalcy had returned to the country thanks to the improvement in overall political environment after the general election.
He said by holding the meetings they were trying to rightly inform the global potential buyers that the country's business environment was now stable.
According to the BoI, the number of investment proposals from both local and foreign sources during the calendar year 2013 declined by more than 27 per cent and nearly 10 per cent respectively.
The BoI data also showed potential local investors submitted proposals for setting up 1,197 industrial units involving an aggregate investment amount of Tk 424.89 billion in 2013 as against 1,655 proposals involving Tk 500.00 billion registered a year earlier in 2012.