Sharp decline in investment proposal registration in last nine months
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
FE Report
Bangladesh received US$ 792 million foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2006, 6.0 per cent less than that of 2005, according the World investment Report-2007 launched in the city Tuesday.
In 2005, the actual FDI inflow was $845 million, the highest ever in a single year.
The outflow of FDI from Bangladesh in 2006 was only $ 8.0 million.
Bangladesh ranked third among the FDI recipient countries in South Asia. India was at the top of the list with $ 16.9 billion followed by Pakistan, $4.3 billion.
The Board of Investment (BoI) and UN information center (UNIC) jointly launched the report, prepared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), at BoI conference room Tuesday.
The BoI executive chairman Mohammad Mohsin unveiled the WIR report having the theme 'Transnational Corporations, Extractive Industries and Development'.
M Ismail Hossain, professor of Economics, Jahangirnagar University presented the WIR.
Addressing the occasion, the BoI chief said: "Despite political unrest, volatility and changes in the government, specially in the second half of the year, investors had shown their consistent confidence in Bangladesh."
It was speculated that the FDI would fall drastically, but the actual inflow stood at $792 million across the sectors like telecom, energy and manufacturing-only a 6.0 per cent less than that of 2005, he said.
The country received FDI from 26 countries and territories and top 10 sources contributed 92 per cent of the total FDI.
The USA, Egypt, the UAE, Norway and the UK are among top five of the FDI sources that contributed 66 per cent of the total.
"There was a slight change in the top 10 on the list from 2005 as the UK dropped its first position to 5th, while the USA has topped the list from its previous 2nd position, but the top 10 on the list remained unchanged," he said.
Telecom sector had contributed 43.8 per cent of the FDI remaining the number one provider of FDI like the previous year, followed by energy and power, 26.3 per cent, trade and commerce, 16.4 per cent, and manufacturing 13.2 per cent.
The BoI executive chairman said registration of investment proposals, both foreign and local, declined significantly, about 30 per cent, in the first nine months of 2007.
But he expressed his optimism that the Chief Adviser (CA) has been initiating different regulatory reform measures to ensure investment-friendly environment to lure FDI.
Asked about the investment proposals in the pipeline, the BoI chief said FDI proposals worth $ 12.8 billion, including that of Tata and Asia Energy, were under process.
"The CA has been seriously considering the investment proposals by forming 'better business forum' and separate commission for luring FDI," Mohsin said.
The UNCTAD report indicated a significant change in sectoral composition between 1999 and 2005 as share of the primary sector declined from 10 to 8.0 per cent, manufacturing from 41 to 30 per cent, but services increased from 49 to 62 per cent.
The global FDI flow showed an upward trend in 2006, over $1300 billion mark, with 38 per cent growth. The global FDI was $ 916 billion in 2005.
The developed countries attracted FDI worth $857 billion while developing countries $379 billion in 2006.
The USA was the highest FDI recipient, attracting $175 billion while the UK $139 billion and France $81.1 billion.
On region based FDI recipients, European Union (EU) topped the list attracting $ 531 billion followed by North America $244.4 billion, South, East and South-East Asia $ 199.5 billion, Latin America and the Caribbean $83.8 billion, South East Europe and CIS $69.3 billion, West Asia $59.9 billion and Africa $35.5 billion.
FDI inflows to south, East and South-East Asia maintained their upward trend in 2006, rising by about 19 per cent to reach a new high of $200 billion, UNCTAD report on annual survey of global FDI revealed.
"Transitional cooperation's, extractive industries and development indicates that at the sub regional level, south and south-east Asia saw sustained increases in flows, while FDI growth in East Asia was slower," the report said.
Among the developing countries, China and Hong Kong (China) retained their positions as the largest FDI recipients attracting $69 billion and $43 billion respectively.
Singapore and India was in next positions attracting $ 24 billion and $ 17 billion FDI in 2006.
"The primary and service sectors in the region received significantly higher FDI inflows in 2006. In extractive industries, the value of cross-border merger and acquisition (M&As) rose nearly fivefold to $ 1.7 billion," the report said.
Bangladesh attracted US$ 350 million in 2003 and 460 million in 2004.
Although the BoI estimated $1.0 billion FDI for 2006, it fell short of target due to political unrest and changing scenario.
The world FDI growth was 29 per cent in 2005 that increased to 38 per cent in 2006.
In 2005, among the South Asian countries, Bangladesh's position in FDI growth was ahead of India and Sri Lanka while Pakistan topped the regional list.
FDI inflows to south, east and south-east Asia reached a new high of $200 billion, achieving a 19 per cent growth.
Bangladesh received US$ 792 million foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2006, 6.0 per cent less than that of 2005, according the World investment Report-2007 launched in the city Tuesday.
In 2005, the actual FDI inflow was $845 million, the highest ever in a single year.
The outflow of FDI from Bangladesh in 2006 was only $ 8.0 million.
Bangladesh ranked third among the FDI recipient countries in South Asia. India was at the top of the list with $ 16.9 billion followed by Pakistan, $4.3 billion.
The Board of Investment (BoI) and UN information center (UNIC) jointly launched the report, prepared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), at BoI conference room Tuesday.
The BoI executive chairman Mohammad Mohsin unveiled the WIR report having the theme 'Transnational Corporations, Extractive Industries and Development'.
M Ismail Hossain, professor of Economics, Jahangirnagar University presented the WIR.
Addressing the occasion, the BoI chief said: "Despite political unrest, volatility and changes in the government, specially in the second half of the year, investors had shown their consistent confidence in Bangladesh."
It was speculated that the FDI would fall drastically, but the actual inflow stood at $792 million across the sectors like telecom, energy and manufacturing-only a 6.0 per cent less than that of 2005, he said.
The country received FDI from 26 countries and territories and top 10 sources contributed 92 per cent of the total FDI.
The USA, Egypt, the UAE, Norway and the UK are among top five of the FDI sources that contributed 66 per cent of the total.
"There was a slight change in the top 10 on the list from 2005 as the UK dropped its first position to 5th, while the USA has topped the list from its previous 2nd position, but the top 10 on the list remained unchanged," he said.
Telecom sector had contributed 43.8 per cent of the FDI remaining the number one provider of FDI like the previous year, followed by energy and power, 26.3 per cent, trade and commerce, 16.4 per cent, and manufacturing 13.2 per cent.
The BoI executive chairman said registration of investment proposals, both foreign and local, declined significantly, about 30 per cent, in the first nine months of 2007.
But he expressed his optimism that the Chief Adviser (CA) has been initiating different regulatory reform measures to ensure investment-friendly environment to lure FDI.
Asked about the investment proposals in the pipeline, the BoI chief said FDI proposals worth $ 12.8 billion, including that of Tata and Asia Energy, were under process.
"The CA has been seriously considering the investment proposals by forming 'better business forum' and separate commission for luring FDI," Mohsin said.
The UNCTAD report indicated a significant change in sectoral composition between 1999 and 2005 as share of the primary sector declined from 10 to 8.0 per cent, manufacturing from 41 to 30 per cent, but services increased from 49 to 62 per cent.
The global FDI flow showed an upward trend in 2006, over $1300 billion mark, with 38 per cent growth. The global FDI was $ 916 billion in 2005.
The developed countries attracted FDI worth $857 billion while developing countries $379 billion in 2006.
The USA was the highest FDI recipient, attracting $175 billion while the UK $139 billion and France $81.1 billion.
On region based FDI recipients, European Union (EU) topped the list attracting $ 531 billion followed by North America $244.4 billion, South, East and South-East Asia $ 199.5 billion, Latin America and the Caribbean $83.8 billion, South East Europe and CIS $69.3 billion, West Asia $59.9 billion and Africa $35.5 billion.
FDI inflows to south, East and South-East Asia maintained their upward trend in 2006, rising by about 19 per cent to reach a new high of $200 billion, UNCTAD report on annual survey of global FDI revealed.
"Transitional cooperation's, extractive industries and development indicates that at the sub regional level, south and south-east Asia saw sustained increases in flows, while FDI growth in East Asia was slower," the report said.
Among the developing countries, China and Hong Kong (China) retained their positions as the largest FDI recipients attracting $69 billion and $43 billion respectively.
Singapore and India was in next positions attracting $ 24 billion and $ 17 billion FDI in 2006.
"The primary and service sectors in the region received significantly higher FDI inflows in 2006. In extractive industries, the value of cross-border merger and acquisition (M&As) rose nearly fivefold to $ 1.7 billion," the report said.
Bangladesh attracted US$ 350 million in 2003 and 460 million in 2004.
Although the BoI estimated $1.0 billion FDI for 2006, it fell short of target due to political unrest and changing scenario.
The world FDI growth was 29 per cent in 2005 that increased to 38 per cent in 2006.
In 2005, among the South Asian countries, Bangladesh's position in FDI growth was ahead of India and Sri Lanka while Pakistan topped the regional list.
FDI inflows to south, east and south-east Asia reached a new high of $200 billion, achieving a 19 per cent growth.