Bangladesh has a lot of potential to attract foreign funds to industries which abide by good environmental, social and corporate governance, according to analysts yesterday.
Time has come for entrepreneurs to be technologically sound to compete in the fourth industrial revolution, they added.
Their comments came at an event titled “Role of Technology & ESG Analytics in Sustainable Financing” organised by the Association of Asset Management Companies and Mutual Funds (AAMCMF) at Parjatan Bhaban.
The event was organised marking World Investor Week 2022 which was also promoted by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).
Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said entrepreneurs should be prompt in absorbing technology in every business otherwise they would not be able to compete with others.
Share market investors will also have to prepare themselves to use artificial intelligence (AI) when deciding to invest in stocks, he said, adding that in the coming days the AI would be able to recommend which stocks would be better after analysing data.
Share market investors will also have to prepare themselves to use artificial intelligence when deciding to invest in stocks, said an expert
The government ensures adequate infrastructure so that people can adopt and know about all the new technologies, he added.
Bangladeshi institutional investors are still lagging behind in sustainable investing but the concept has remarkably grown worldwide, said Hasan Imam, president of the AAMCMF.
Sustainable investing refers to a range of practices in which investors aim to achieve financial returns while promoting long-term environmental or social value.
“We should increase focus on the sustainable investing because it may attract more dollars to the country,” said Imam.
About the performance of asset management companies, Imam said the mutual fund sector outperformed the index last year when the market equity value rose 2.5 per cent and average dividend provided by mutual funds was at 6.5 per cent.
Investors can invest in the sector as many listed mutual funds traded at Tk 5 to Tk 6 whereas their net asset value is over Tk 10. In these cases, dividend yield of the funds ranges from 15 per cent to 50 per cent.
Though some people allege that the mutual fund sector is not growing, assets under management amounted to Tk 2,500 crore in 2008, which is now Tk 15,300 crore, he added.
In 2020, assets under management stood at Tk 10,000 crore in accounting terms but the fair value of the fund was around Tk 7,000 crore due to many faults, said Mizanur Rahman, a commissioner of the BSEC.
Since then, the commission worked to make the sector transparent, accountable and to follow International Financial Reporting Standards, he said.
Now, reporting, valuation and dividend payments situation of the mutual funds has been improved, he said.
The commissioner announced that they were planning to launch a website where all financial reports of all the mutual funds would be kept and investors would be able to take decisions comparing all the funds’ performances.
“We want to get more foreign investment but they focus on environment before investing,” said Prof Shaikh Shamsuddin Ahmed, a commissioner of the BSEC.
If the companies do not come forward to ensure that their actions are environment friendly and sustainable investing, foreign funds will not increase by that much of an extent, he added.
Rumana Islam, another commissioner of the BSEC, also spoke at the event.
