Saudi investors due in Dhaka in December

A team of Saudi entrepreneurs will arrive in Dhaka in December this year to finalise investment deals with their Bangladeshi counterparts, officials said.
Their proposals for investment came during a visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the kingdom last year.
A team of businessmen, who accompanied the PM during her five-day visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in June last year, discussed the issue of investments in prospective sectors with their Saudi counterparts
The KSA expressed its interest to invest in infrastructure, communication, plastic, bitumen, pharmaceuticals and power sectors.
"We hope, the delegation of Saudi Business Council will arrive in the country in December to finalise their investment proposals," president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) told the FE.
He said the Saudi entrepreneurs will visit the country in the third week of December.
Earlier, the Saudi business team was supposed to arrive in November last year but due to some unavoidable circumstances, their trip was put off.
"They showed interest for investments in our country," former president of the FBCCI Abdul Matlub Ahmad, who was in the PM's entourage, told the FE.
Meanwhile, the FBCCI selected ten prospective sectors and prepare project proposals for Saudi investment in Bangladesh.
Initially, the country could expect US$ 7 billion to $ 10 billion investment from Saudi Arabia, according to the business circles.
The sectors which drew foreign direct investment (FDI) from the KSA to Bangladesh are textiles sector with 0.02 per cent share while banking 24.69 per cent and non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) 2 per cent during 2015, according to Bangladesh Bank and Export Promotion Bureau.
Bangladesh exported goods worth US$ 186.32 million to KSA and imported $ 829.05 million goods from that country in the fiscal year (FY) 2014-15.
Bangladesh exports mainly woven garments, knitwear, home textile, agri-products, frozen food, leather and leather products, footwear and jute goods to Saudi Arabia while it imports animal and mineral products, plastic and rubber articles etc.
Asked about the proposed visit of Saudi investors in the country, a high official of the ministry of commerce told the FE that the ministries concerned are working on it.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com