MOST developing countries woo their non-residents, who work abroad, for their resources. The expatriates are valued as forex fund sources to finance economic activities in the home countries.
Bangladesh has not been able to fully tap this source of finance, expertise and investment to boost to its economy although it has more of its people working abroad. Why the non resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) are not coming forward to invest in Bangladesh for its economic growth and their own gains? It can be explained by the unfavourable environment at the ground level.
No investor will want to invest in a situation that does not assure good returns. Creation of this environment is the responsibility of the government. Law and order and corruption are disincentives to investment. Foreign investments usually flow to places with good infrastructure support. Specific fields, where the NRBs might want to invest in Bangladesh, would require addressing problems including a lack of adequate supply of qualified or trained people or the absence of the needed infrastructure. For example, information technology (IT), a highly prospective thrust area for Bangladesh, would not encourage even the willing NRBs to return to invest for exporting products due to the present state of the country's capacity.
The government could put its act together to improve the conditions for the NRBs to invest. It was expected to facilitate about $ 1.2 billion of NRB investments in Bangladesh by this year. This is yet to happen.
Mizanur Rahman
Baridhara, Dhaka
Neglected investment offers of NRBs
FE Team | Published: November 10, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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