Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged Chinese business leaders to invest in Bangladesh.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Bangladesh Marching Ahead’ organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Beijing on Tuesday, Hasina said Chinese investors can also go for joint ventures with Bangladesh entrepreneurs in pharmaceuticals, ceramics, tourism, road and rail communications, petrochemicals and agro-based industries.
“During the 2013-14 fiscal, the total amount of Bangladesh’s import from China was nearly $7 billion, making China our top bilateral trade partner, and since 2007 it is our largest source of our imports,” she told the seminar.
Stressing on the low labour cost in Bangladesh, Hasina said that Chinese companies now have the opportunity to relocate their factories as the cost of production in China has gone up sharply.
Hasina said that Chinese investment now stands at more than $300 million in Bangladesh (as of December 2013).
“Around 300 more Chinese investment proposals, worth $ 2.3 billion have registered with our Board of Investment,” she added.
Describing, Bangladesh’s FDI policies as a ‘friendly’ one, the prime minister said that it offers legal protection against nationalisation and expropriation of capital and dividend.
“Another added attraction is that as an LDC, Bangladesh is enjoying duty-free and quota-free market access to the EU and almost all developed countries,” she said.
The prime minister said that her government was determined to increase the power output so that industry would have no problem.
“We are also increasing our power capacity to ensure that foreign investments thrive and prosper. At present, our current power need of 7,000 MW is met by the output, but our production capacity exceeds 11,000 MW.”
In her speech, she described Bangladesh as a ‘ model of economic development’.
“Our export earnings since 2008 has increased by 107 percent; remittances increased by 62 percent; foreign exchange reserves rose by 217 percent; power capacity increased by 109 percent.”
Source: Bd news24
