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Uncertainty in regulatory regime and corruption choke the flow of British investment to Bangladesh, said Robert Chatterton Dickson, the UK envoy in Dhaka, yesterday.
A British firm had planned to invest a huge amount in Bangladesh, but it abandoned the plan due to corruption and judicial barriers here, he said.
Dickson was delivering a lecture on the “Importance of international trade” organised by the Department of International Business of Dhaka University in the business faculty’s auditorium.
The high commissioner, however, did not disclose the name of the company.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a vital role in upskilling a workforce, he said.
“Bangladesh has done remarkably well in the 50 years since its independence — something the country can be genuinely proud of. But, to maintain that growth Bangladesh needs to know how FDI can provide more jobs and more capital.”
The UK and Bangladesh still have a good trade relationship, and the UK will be developing new partnerships and building on historic friendships, he added. Dickson said he came to know from the British media’s commentary during 1971 that the UK had been on the side of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has the fastest growing economy in the world and the UK is its largest single market and second largest source of international investment, he said.
Marks and Spencer, Unilever, HSBC and Standard Chartered are some of the British companies, which are doing well in Bangladesh, he said.
There are now some 600,000 British citizens of Bangladeshi heritage in the UK, which include four members of the parliament, he added.
On Brexit, the high commissioner said: “For the first time since 1973, we are a fully sovereign country and able to control our own destiny.”
The British government will work with the EU to negotiate a free trade agreement by the yearend along with drawing on other recent agreements, such as the ones between the EU and Canada, he said.
“That should be the core of our future relationship.”
Bangladesh needs to boost its value chain and diversify its exports to maintain growth in the presence of such free trade deals, he said.
Among others, Shobod Deba Nath, chairman of the Department of International Business of Dhaka University, and Derek Griffiths, head of trade at the British high commission, attended the event along with around 200 students of the university.
(TDS)
