A high-powered Saudi Arabian business delegation will visit Bangladesh in early next month to explore possible investments here, officials said on Monday.
Some 20 renowned Saudi Arabian business groups from power, energy, oil, railway, cement, IT and financial sectors will arrive in Dhaka on February 10, Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Kazi M Aminul Islam said.
"We expect to have some advancement in Dhaka for getting more than US$1.0 billion investment from the Saudi Arabian investors in the next meeting," he told the FE.
Mr Islam said the business delegation is the highest level of group from Saudi Arabia as two cabinet ministers from Ministry of Commerce and Investments and Ministry of Economy and Planning will accompany the team.
During the two-day visit, the delegation will hold meetings with BIDA, some ministers, senior government officials and agencies concerned and trade body leaders on their planned investments in Bangladesh.
Some Saudi investors including power sector player AlFanar and Daelim Arabia Company Ltd, Oil sector business giant Aramco, IT sector player Eng. Dimension and Kamber Dynwig Co. and fertiliser business house Hanwah and Alrajhi will visit Dhaka with their investment proposals.
Following the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Riyadh in October last year, some Saudi investors had already made some investment proposals.
A few memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were also signed regarding their investments in the country.
"Some 2-3 investors have already advanced much with their investment proposals. Their representatives had already held some meetings with the Bangladesh government authority to furnish their investments here," Mr Islam said.
"In the next meeting in February, we expect to finalise some of their proposals for investments in Bangladesh," he added.
Saudi company AlFanar is expected to set up a 100-megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Feni. Another company is likely to go for joint-venture (JV) investment with the Bangladesh government to set up Chhatak cement factory.
Besides, another company has proposed to set up fertiliser factory in Saudi Arabia for supplying the products to Bangladesh only, the BIDA executive chairman said.
Mr Islam further said they would also request the Saudi team to become a partner of a US$1.0 billion fund which would be proposed to be created by BIDA.
"It will be utilised for equity support for investments here to both local investors and Saudi investors."
Another BIDA official said representatives of Saudi government's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Saudi Fund for Development (SDF) will accompany the business delegation.
More than 1.5 million Bangladeshi professionals and workers are living in Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh's single largest source of remittance earnings.
Bangladeshi expatriates in Saudi Arabia sent US$2.59 billion remittance in the last fiscal year 2017-18.
Though trade between the two nations has increased significantly in recent years, it still remains at modest level.
In FY 2018, Bangladesh's export to Saudi Arabia was nearly $350 million, and its import from the middle-east country was recorded at around $750 million.
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