Prime minister's foreign affairs adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi on Saturday said the government has attached topmost priority to attracting investment to Bangladesh to help achieve the country's economic goals, reports UNB.
"In recent years, numerous laws have been passed and new economic zones are being created so that more investors can come and invest here," he said.
The adviser was talking to reporters after visiting the restoration project of Baro Sardar Bari at Sonargaon which he termed the shining example of public-private partnership (PPP).
Youngone Corporation, one of the largest foreign investors operating in Bangladesh and the sponsor company of Korean EPZ in Chittagong, took up the project with around US$ 1.7 million investment.
President of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) Farooq Sobhan, KEPZ chairman Jahangir Saadat, Korean ambassador Lee Yun-young, ambassador and the head of delegation, European Union Pierre Mayaudon, Russian ambassador Alexander A Nikolaev, France ambassador Sophie Aubert, Danish ambassador Hanne Fugl Eskjaer, Malaysian high commissioner Norlin Othman, Bhutanese high commissioner Pema Choden, Canadian high commissioner Benoit Pierre Laramee, deputy head of Mission of Japan Embassy Takeshi Matsunaga, and CDA of Netherlands Embassy Martine van Hoogstraten were, among others, present with their family members.
Gowher Rizvi said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with artist Zainul Abedin had visited Sonargaon in 1975 and promised that it will be restored. "I'm really encouraged to see the work here. It'll encourage other entrepreneurs to come and join hands."
He said, "I hope, it'll be completed by December and the prime minister may come here."
Korean ambassador Lee Yun-young said he is really happy to see the progress of the beautiful project and hoped that it will help attract more tourists from abroad, including Korea, once the project is completed.
The diplomat said they will go for the second phase work and will restore the old town of Narayanganj.
He referred to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore who are attracting huge tourists from the world.
At the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative of the chairman and CEO, Kihak Sung of Youngone Corporation, a team of architects under Prof Dr Abu Sayeed M Ahmed embarked on the restoration and conservation of an important and popularly- visited heritage site since January 2012 in Sonargaon which is about 30 kilometers away from Dhaka.
The purpose of this project is to conserve the complex in its original form, features and the surrounding environment that will represent the culture, history and heritage of this nation to the visitors from home and abroad. Nearly 70 per cent of the restoration work has been completed.
This restoration project of the proud Bangladeshi historical and cultural site is a glaring example of those continuous CSR activities of Korean investors.
