Synergy among Joint Chambers instrumental forattracting FDI in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Sept. 17 (NsNewsWire) —  S A Samad Executive Chairman, Board of Investment (BoI) underscored the need for sustainablenetworking among Joint Chambers operating in Bangladesh for attracting foreign Direct Investment.

He was speaking at  an event  Joint  Chambers’ Meet  Up organized by Canada Bangladesh Chamber  ofCommerce and Industry (CanCham Bangladesh), in association with Board of Investment (BoI) at DCCIAuditorium on 17 September, 2015.

Executive Chairman of BoI Dr. S. A. Samad attended the meet up aschief guest while Mr. Masud Rahman, President, CanCham chaired the session.

Executive Chairman of BoI Dr. S A Samad in his speech said that the economic and social indicators ofBangladesh  are showing commendable progress. He added that since 2009 foreign direct investment(FDI)  inflow has been increasing steadily.   The services offered by BoI  are made online.

He furtherdelineated that  government  has  identified  27  locations  for  establishing  special  economic zones  andcalled  upon  the  Joint  Chambers’  leaders  to  come  forward  for  investment.  He  unfolded  that  thatBangladesh needs investment of about $7-8 billion in infrastructure development to attain 8-9 per centGDP.

He expressed his hope that the Joint Chambers could play a pivotal role to give a big push for tradeand investment. BoI Executive Chairman lauded the role of CanCham for organizing the meet up andconfirmed that BoI would follow it up by convening quarterly meet up. In  his  welcome  address,  President  of  CanCham  Bangladesh  Masud  Rahman  urged  for  a  strongnetworking of joint Chambers to strengthen their voice in the policy formulation of trade and investmentas well as attracting FDI.

He said the present investment regime in Bangladesh is quite attractive thanmany other countries in Asia but we are yet to reap maximum benefit out of it because of precariouscondition in areas like infrastructure, port, energy and gas.

He said joint chambers play pivotal role topromote trade and investment between Bangladesh and different foreign countries.Director of Nordic Chamber of Commerce & Regional Head (Bangladesh and Pakistan) of H&M RogerHubert,  President  of  Dutch-Bangla  Chamber  of  Commerce Hasan Khaled,  Senior  Vice  President  ofIndonesia-Bangladesh  Chamber  of  Commerce  Muhammad  Golam  Mustafa,  Director  of  France-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce Dr. Rifat Rashid, CEO of India-Bangladesh Chamber of CommerceJahangir Bin Alam, Senior Vice President  of Bangladesh-Thai  Chamber of  Commerce Charles C.R.Patra, Advisor of Turkey-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce Halef Ozkurt, President of Italy-BangladeshChamber of Commerce H.M. Hakim Ali, President of Philippine –Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce RMaksud Khan and Executive Member of BoI Nabhash Chandra Mandal  and Vice President (Operationsupport group) of Li & Fung (Bangladesh) Ltd. and Executive Member of Foreign Investors’ Chambers ofCommerce and Industry (FICCI) Christopher Young were present among others. The Presidents and Representatives of different Joint Chambers spoke on the occasion.

They sharedtheir experience and expressed their solidarity to establish networking among Joint Chambers under theauspices of BoI.