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Bangladesh is now ready to receive foreign investment, said president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Md Jashim Uddin.
He also said that while the whole world was weathering a turbulent economic situation, it also impacted Bangladesh like other countries of the world.
“However, despite this, Bangladesh’s economy has shown its resilience and we think that Bangladesh is now ready to receive global investment. We all have to work together to materialize this,” he added.
The FBCCI chief said this while responding questions at the pre-event press conference on Bangladesh Business Summit 2023 on Saturday in the capital, a three-day business summit from March 11-13 marking the FBCCI’s 50th founding anniversary.
He also said that the multinational companies that have invested in the country were doing good business as there was a big consumer market here.
Responding to another question, he said that the businesses should focus on grabbing the local market as it will be more profitable to sell products here comparatively than in western markets.
“I believe that the center of attention should be placed on finding import substitutes rather than exports to save foreign currency which will advance a faster growth towards a trillion-dollar economy,” he noted.
Regarding common complaints about production quality and compliance issues in the domestic market, he said that FBCCI was working to fix those.
Responding to another question regarding ongoing discussion on raising interest rates to control inflation, he said that there was no guarantee that the inflation rate will fall with changes in interest rate.
As supply disruptions and price increases in the global market are to blame for the current inflation, it will eventually decrease along with the drop in the cost of raw materials, he added.
Uddin also said that the government promised that when the prices of power and energy would drop in the country as soon as they dropped in the global market.
During the business summit, the FBCCI, for the first time, will award successful entrepreneurs and businessmen of the country.
Along with the summit, the Best of Bangladesh Expo 2023 and the Bangladesh Business Excellence Award will also be held concurrently.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the three-day summit.
“We had a $90 billion economy in 2008, which has now reached $470 billion. We are going to organize the event to accelerate the trillion-dollar journey of the country,” said Jashim Uddin.
Business summit details
The summit will hold three plenary sessions, 13 parallel sessions, and multiple open discussions with traders, investors, analysts and policymakers to talk through the country’s trade and investment opportunities, obstacles and ways to overcome them.
He said that the summit will highlight the success story that has set the foundations for the sustainable growth trajectory of Bangladesh.
“It will showcase the dynamic business investment opportunities and the improvements and business environment reforms,” he added.
FBCCI will seek investors’ views and suggestions to create more partnership opportunities, secure investment proposals and develop a solid investment pipeline for the major sectors, and will facilitate effective networking dialogue and partnership opportunities with investors, policymakers, and broader groups of stakeholders, he added.
Ministers from 12 to 15 countries will participate in this international conference and the representatives of large companies from different countries of the world will also participate.
FBCCI President also noted that the Best of Bangladesh Expo will be showcased the potential sectors of the country like textiles, agro-processed food, leather, ceramics, and jute to the foreign investors.
He also said that they will also focus on the SME, blue economy, logistics and port development of the country.
(DT)
