Muhith welcomes FDI in energy, transport sectors

NEW DELHI, Feb 25 (BSS): Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith today said that Bangladesh needed investment in a bigger way to achieve economic reliance. Speaking to a group of Indian and foreign journalists on the sideline of the World Conference on Recreating South Asia at the India International Centre (IIC), Muhith said that foreign direct investment (FDI) in transport and energy sectors would be welcomed. Referring to the US $1.0 billion credit line from India, the minister said six projects would be implemented with this fund for procurement of railway equipment and buses and one railway project will come within their fold, he added. More eight to ten projects are under process, Muhith stated while adding that among other projects to be funded under this credit facility, six are in the transport sector and one in the power sector. Responding to a question on the recently concluded conference of the least developed countries (LDCs) in Delhi and about the graduation of only three countries out of the LDC to that of developing countries, the finance minister said that the developed countries should also share the blame for this as they had missed their aid targets for the LDCs. He appreciated India's role in the LDC conference, held for the first time in four decades. Responding to a question on the Bangladesh Stock Market, Muhith said, "it is a very immature market and is very easy to manipulate". Another report adds: the Bangladesh Finance Minister, while participating at a discussion meeting on the occasion of the World Conference on Recreating South Asia: Democracy, Social Justice and Sustainable Development at ICC in the Indian capital on Thursday, said the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) need to identify immediate and recurring risks that could destabilise their economies. "Such risks hold up or recede the SAARC integration process," he noted. He called for developing a "SAARC regional surveillance and warning system" to forecast short- and long-term financial and economic risks and enable the member countries to take precautionary and timely measures, both domestically and regionally. Networking with other regional surveillance arrangements that are evolving in parts of Asia, can be an extended option for the SAARC, he suggested. He also underscored the urgency for establishing a pool of emergency reserve fund within the SAARC framework. It is being strongly felt in the wake of the global economic crisis, he added. "The presence of such an emergency fund will facilitate the member countries of the SAARC to deal with short-term exchange rate or balance of payment problems which have, time and again, been proved as destabilising to national economies," he said. Muhith noted that such an instability interrupts the process of regional integration. He supported the Indian proposal in this connection and said it can be the starting point "to make some move ahead." The finance minister laid emphasis on regional connectivity by means of opening new land ports and improving riverways, railway and seaports. He said Bangladesh has been reiterating the need for increasing regional connectivity. "We also think that the setting up of facilities for energy trade, finding renewable and alternative energy sources and providing mobile and internet connectivity will be the propitious areas for common development enterprises of the SAARC member-countries," he said.