The Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon the investors of different countries to take advantage of all the facilities provided by the government for investing in Bangladesh. She made the call in her inaugural address at the two-day long ‘International Investment Conference-2021’ on 28 November. The Hon’ble Prime Minister took part in the main event organised by Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dhaka via video conference from Ganabhaban.
The Hon’ble Prime Minister said, “I am happy to know that 2,332 people from 15 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, China, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Malaysia have registered for this international conference. We are committed to providing all policy support, including infrastructure development, to create an investment-friendly environment in Bangladesh. We have identified 11 potential sectors for investment. These include infrastructure, capital markets and financial services, information technology, electronics manufacturing, leather, auto and light engineering, agro-products and food processing, healthcare and medicine, jute-textiles, and blue-economy.”
The Hon’ble Prime Minister further said, “I believe that through this conference, investors will be able to learn more about the potential of these sectors in Bangladesh. New markets for Bangladeshi products will be created and Bangladesh will be able to attract the desired investment. The importance of Bangladesh in terms of foreign investment is increasing day by day because of political stability, creation of skilled manpower, liberal investment policy through attractive incentives and the geographical position between the huge markets of South and Southeast Asia. This is largely due to Awami League winning three consecutive elections since 2008. As a result of confidence in Bangladesh, more than 80% foreign direct investment is coming through reinvestment.”
Noting that efforts are being made to create an investment-friendly environment in the country with a focus on economic diplomacy, the Hon’ble Prime Minister said, “We are working towards the implementation of bilateral and regional priority trade agreements, free trade agreements and integrated economic partnership agreements. I have signed PTA with Bhutan. Bangladesh is getting unilateral duty free export facilities from 38 countries of the world. Dual-tax avoidance agreements are in effect with 36 countries.”
Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Advisor Salman Fazlur Rahman, Saudi Arabia’s Transport Minister Saleh Nasser A Al-Jasser and President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Jasim Uddin spoke on the occasion. BIDA’s Executive Chairman Md. Sirajul Islam delivered the welcome speech.
Video messages were sent by Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, Ren Hongbin, Vice Minister of Commerce of China, Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, Alfonso Garcia Mora, Regional Vice President for International and Financial Corporation Asia and the Pacific, as well as President, Consumer Durables of Coke Holding AS Turkey and Chairman of Singer Bangladesh Dr Fatih Kemal Ebiçlioğlu. Besides, the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki read out a message from Parliamentary Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Honda Taro. A documentary titled ‘Discover Limitless’ was aired on the occasion. The Prime Minister also unveiled the cover of the summit publication.
