Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Lokman Hossain Miah welcomed the Qatari investments in his country, calling on the Qatari businessmen and investors to capitalise on the promising investment opportunities worth over $100bn in a variety of sectors.
In remarks to Qatar News Agency, Miah said the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Dhaka will lend impetus to the bilateral relations between the two countries and promote them in multiple fields, in addition to highlighting the emerging and more dynamic economy in Bangladesh.
Miah added that there is excitement about the visit of His Highness the Amir, affirming that it reflects the strength of Bangladesh's economy. He added that Bangladesh has showcased stunning growth not only in economy, but also in all the socio-economic perspectives, including food production, 100% electricity generation, 100% mobile penetration, 90% access to mobile financial framework etc. He noted that the visit will be very helpful in rebranding Bangladesh to not only Qatar, but also many investors in the Middle East region. He also said that the visit of His Highness the Amir will open the door for more visits and exploration of economic opportunities by the investors from Qatar, stressing that BIDA will be ready to serve the delegations with all the necessary support they might need.
Miah said that Qatar and Bangladesh are making progress in strengthening economic, commercial and technical cooperation between them, including seeking to sign a memorandum of understanding, in addition to a framework agreement, and he expects the establishment of a platform to explore new trade and investment opportunities in the two countries. He expressed Bangladesh's readiness to use those platforms to initiate more promotional activities towards rebranding Bangladesh as the new potential hub for investment in the region.
He pointed out that while the size of trade and investment between the two countries are still not within a substantive level despite the existing opportunities and cultural ties, talks between officials in both countries are focused on establishing a permanent platform for economic cooperation and introducing more dynamism into the trade and investment sectors.
He discussed the Bangladesh Investment Summit that took place in Doha in May 2023 during the visit of the Bangladesh Premier in Qatar, adding that the event was jointly organized by BIDA and Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), which generated a huge response from traders and investors from the Qatar community with an attendance of more than 300 investors. He emphasised that BIDA is following up on the summit to generate more investment from Qatar.
Miah revealed that Bangladesh now boasts a huge $100bn investment opportunities across a number of sectors. Currently 85% of export earnings come from the RMG sector and the government is focusing on various sectors to diversify its export basket.
He added that the key investment sectors include agro-food processing and machinery, readymade garments, manufacturing of high-end apparel items, man-made fibres, clothing accessories, fabrics/yarns, and natural and synthetic fibres, software and IT-enabled services, healthcare and medical equipment/devices, automobile and accessories, shipbuilding, leather and leather products, as well as tourism.
He talked about a number of incentives and facilities offered to investors, including 100% foreign equity, profit repatriation, importing capital machinery only with 1% import duty, in addition to reducing duty structure for import of raw materials for industries registered with BIDA.
He added that investors from Qatar has many opportunities to expand and increase the volume of investments in a variety of sectors in Bangladesh, in addition to capitalizing on all incentives Bangladesh offers. He expected that the private sectors in both the countries will get opportunities to explore the potential with increased economic cooperation.
BIDA is considering plans to enhance the cooperation with Gulf Co-operation Council and other relevant authorities in the Gulf to enhance the co-operation in the field of investment", he said.
