Hasina seeks more investment in Bangladesh from top global business leaders

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has prodded global business leaders to invest more in Bangladesh, promising her government will support them all the way.

She made the call at a roundtable of Commonwealth heads of government in London with senior business leaders on Wednesday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May chaired the roundtable attended by the heads of government of 14 countries at the InterContinental hotel.

Hasina said foreign investors were rebranding Bangladesh as “Asia’s next best investment hub” with duty and quota-free access to the European Union, Australian, Canadian and Japanese markets.

She said power generation, and oil and gas exploration for sustained industrial investment were top priority of her government.

“I invite you, especially leaders from the global business sector present here today, to invest in Bangladesh.

“Rest assured, you will have the full support of my government in one of Asia’s most robust FDI incentive regimes,” she added.

The Bangladesh leader said her government understands the importance of small and medium enterprises or SMEs as the driving force for economic growth, employment generation and poverty alleviation for developing countries like Bangladesh and is acting accordingly.

According to her, nearly 90 percent of industries fall under SME category in Bangladesh, but those contribute only 25 percent to the national GDP.

“The government is providing focused support to this sector given its huge potential for growing and diversifying exports,” the prime minister said.

Some key areas the government was focusing are on access to finance, infrastructure development, cost effective technology, raw materials and providing market oriented information to prospective entrepreneurs.

She also said her government attaches great importance to development of e-commerce, which has the potential to benefit SMEs.

She noted the government announced establishment of SME advisory centres in all district and Upazilas, which will utilise digital means to act as one-stop centres to provide service to the entrepreneurs earlier this month.

It also emphasises developing infrastructure, increasing efficiency and employment and strengthening the use of technology to endorse the notion of citizens’ empowerment as the creation of economic opportunity under Bangladesh’s 7th Five Year Plan.

According to her, Bangladesh’s export earnings and remittance sent from abroad tripled over the last decade and foreign investment in the current fiscal year is over $3 billion.

Hasina mentioned Bangladesh for the first time has met all three criteria for graduation from a least developed country to a developing one.

Her government considers private partnerships from member countries and organisations as vital.

The government has initiated the establishment of 100 economic zones in different areas of the country and ‘one stop service’ for foreign direct investment and infrastructure development, the prime minister noted.

“That, I believe, will generate employment opportunities and skill development activities for our active workforce, including women,” she added.

Her Principal Secretary Nojibur Rahman, among others, was present.

She was scheduled to attend a dinner to be hosted by May later in the night.