Making the BoI dynamic

BANGLADESH desperately needs substantial investments, domestic and foreign, to help create more jobs and reduce poverty. Domestic private investments, both in manufacturing and services sectors, increased consistently for over the last one and a half decades. The same was not true in case of foreign investment. Its inflow fluctuated, despite the fact that a good number of foreign investors got their investment proposals registered with the Board of Investment (BoI) in last ten years. But the rate of implementation of the proposals was not that encouraging. A number of factors, including inadequate and unreliable supplies of power and gas, bureaucratic complexities and inefficient port, proved to be great disincentives for the prospective investors. Yet another factor, political uncertainty, has also been a concern for such investors.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, has recently come out with a study report, pointing out the hurdles to attracting both foreign and local investment. The IFC study has particularly found the BoI to be an investment promotion entity lacking in the necessary expertise to act as an effective investment promotion organisation and to provide one-stop service to the people willing to make investments in various sectors of the economy. Numerically, the agency does have enough manpower. But the recruitment has never been need-based. As a promotional entity, the BoI should have officials who are innovative and capable of meeting the challenges of a very competitive global investment climate.
There is no denying that Bangladesh does otherwise offer attractive incentives to foreign investors. But the BoI, as an investment promotion agency, has to sell Bangladesh as an attractive investment destination to the outside world. This is, no doubt, a tough job, particularly when a large number of developing countries, mainly form Asia, are in a cut-throat competition to woo foreign investment and also particularly at a time when the global economic meltdown is badly impacting the flow of foreign direct and other forms of investments. Under such circumstances, the reasons are all the more strong for the BoI's face-lift, in order to become an efficient organisation, manned by innovative, hard-working and sincere officials. An official assigned by the World Bank to find a way forward for the BoI told this paper the other day that the Board had failed to take up targeted promotional activities and ensure aftercare of the investors. In many cases, in the absence of the right tool and seriousness on the part of the BoI officials, prospective investors, in spite of their initial interests, could not be roped in.
The present caretaker government has identified some of the weaknesses of the BoI and endorsed a strategic plan to make it as a truly investment promotion body. However, an elected government is set to take over the rein of the country's administration soon. The new government should also continue this good work and inject dynamism into the BoI through the recruitment of truly capable manpower. However, such efforts also need to be supplemented by necessary improvements in infrastructure, port facilities and procedural works at the official level. Under the prevailing global economic scenario, the job of wooing foreign investment has become really a very challenging one. So, the countries offering the best of incentives and proving to be truly friendly to the investors can only expect some inflow of foreign investments. Bangladesh must not falter in this respect.