MCCI for creating enabling environment to attract FDI

The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) said the government should create an enabling environment to make the country an attractive destination for overseas investors.
"Poor conditions of infrastructure (roads, ports etc), inadequate and erratic supply of power and gas, scarcity of land in export processing zones, shortage of skilled labour, political unrest, governance problems etc are the basic impediments that deter foreign investors to invest in the country," the MCCI said in the editorial of its latest 'Chamber News'.
The editorial titled 'World Investment Report 2014' said government should take appropriate action to address these problems and make the country an attractive destination for overseas investors.
Commenting on streamlining the government agencies on promoting investment, the MCCI said the government's investment promotion agency and foreign missions are not doing enough to present Bangladesh as an attractive investment destination.
"This is an issue that needs to be carefully looked into by government," it said.
The 'World Investment Report 2014' launched by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 24 June reveals that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh rose by 23.7 percent year on year to $1599 million in 2013, the highest ever in the country. FDI inflow rose by 14 percent to $1293 million in the previous year. It appears from the report that Bangladesh in recent years recorded a gradual increase in FDI which more than doubled from $700 million in 2009 to $1599 million in 2013.
On Bangladesh, the Board of Investment (BOI) sources reveal that out of the FDI receipts of $1599 million in 2013, only about a third (33.8 per cent), or some $540 million, came as equity capital, up 9 percent from 2012. On the other hand, $697 million or 43.6 per cent of the FDI came from reinvestment of profits by foreign companies, up 19 percent from 2012. 'Intra company loans' brought the balance of $361 million, which is 74 percent higher than the intra company loans in 2012.