Bida hands with StanChart to accelerate foreign investment in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) has announced a partnership with Standard Chartered Bank to jointly promote Bangladesh as a preferred investment destination.

They will work together to bring in targeted global investments to the country, said a press statement issued on Tuesday. 

The first initiative to be undertaken through this partnership will be the China-Bangladesh Investment Summit, scheduled to be held on 25 January next. 

This virtual event will showcase the partnership potential between Bangladesh and China and highlight the emerging strategic opportunities in the highly promising Bangladesh-China trade and investment corridor.

Over 300 delegates representing Chinese public and private sectors, policymakers, investors, bankers and economists, along with prominent leaders from Bangladesh's private and public sectors are expected to attend the event, the press statement read.

Bida, the country's apex investment promotion body, and Standard Chartered, Bangladesh's largest global bank, will collaborate on marketing and trade exchange initiatives that will help companies invest in Bangladesh. 

The partnership will also extend to knowledge exchange on policies, regulations and procedures on investment issues and potential investment opportunities in Bangladesh.

The partnership will leverage Standard Chartered's banking networks both at home and abroad to target high value, high technology and high impact investments, covering key priority sectors such as agri-business, ICT, electronics, plastics, light engineering, shipbuilding, tourism, renewable energy, power and healthcare, and many others.

Sirazul Islam, executive chairman of Bida, said, "FDI will be a key enabler for Bangladesh to achieve sustained double-digit growth and the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and become a higher income country by 2041." 

"While we continue to work to improve ease of doing business and create a business-friendly environment to accelerate the FDI inflow, we must at the same time take the story of a rising Bangladesh to the world," he added. 

"Public and private sector collaboration is now more important, as we look to overcome challenges of Covid-19 and leverage the opportunities of the new normal," he continued. 

Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO at Standard Chartered Bangladesh, said, "Shifting patterns of globalisation and the system shock caused by the pandemic highlights the importance of building resilience through diversification."

"With companies looking to invest in diverse markets to build resilience and leverage available resources and prospects, we have a unique window of opportunity to expand our FDI pool. We thank Bida Chairman because under his leadership the government body is taking the story of a rising Bangladesh to investors around the world."

"Through this timely partnership, we hope to amplify Bida's efforts, by harnessing our global footprint and capabilities, and coordinating our own initiatives to attract targeted foreign investments to Bangladesh," he continued. 

With over 115 years of uninterrupted presence in Bangladesh, Standard Chartered is the only multinational universal Bank in the country with a unique blend of deep-rooted local presence and capacity to capitalise on its global network and product coverage. 

Itself among the largest foreign investors in Bangladesh, the Bank plays a leading role in attracting and facilitating foreign investment in the country, the media release said.

Among many landmark transactions in recent years, the Bank has acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the single largest foreign private investment into Bangladesh, a transaction that was also the single largest consumer sector acquisition in Bangladesh to date.