Boosting FDI inflow

IN order to shore up economy, economists and financial experts at a discussion held recently have advised the government to set the task of inviting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on a priority basis. Actually, the issue has received a new significance in the changed context of big economies considering Bangladesh as an investment destination. At the same time, the country faces competition from the neighbourhood in terms of attracting FDIs.  So, the emphasis has been laid on infrastructure development, cutting back on bureaucratic red-tape and financial sector reform.

But except uttering words of mere assurance, successive governments could not improve the investment climate by developing communications and power infrastructures with a matching supportive policy regime. Especially, bureaucratic tardiness , pervasive corruption and above all political unrest have worked to dampen the would-be investors' spirit effectively.

The government can ill-afford to let such a trend continue. It must get its act together and create conditions for foreign investors to choose Bangladesh as a lucrative investment destination.  

As recommended by experts, as a precondition for attracting FDI, local investment must be boosted. At the same time, special economic zones have to be set up within the shortest possible time. For the purpose, it would be necessary to empower Board of Investment (BoI) so that prospective investors can bank on its service bereft of time-wasting bureaucratic tangle.  Financial reform, especially, in the banking sector, have also to be carried out in tandem with the measures to facilitate investment, both local and foreign.