Published:
Friday, June 28, 2013
Editorial
Foreign investment upswing (উন্নতি)
Steady policy could
attract more
1. ACCORDING
to the World Investment Report 2013 unveiled by United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Bangladesh received nearly $1.3 billion in
foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2012.
2. This is
especially good news in light of the fact that FDI actually fell by 18 per cent
to $1.35 trillion in 2012 from $1.65 trillion in the previous fiscal.
3. Indeed,
if we look at the FDI in the region, Bangladesh has fared well during the
global downturn (হ্রাস) and has secured second position among the
Saarc economies.
4. The
Board of Investment took the opportunity to showcase (কোন কিছুর সর্বোত্তম অংশ প্রদর্শন) latest findings of the report to stress
investors’ confidence in the economy and downplay (অবমূল্যায়ন) findings of think-tanks, both local and foreign.
5. With
India, the dominant economy in the Saarc region followed by Pakistan and Nepal
all posting downward trend, the increase of FDI in Bangladesh suggests greater
investors’ trust in the stability of the economy.
6. That
said, the biggest chunk of the inflow of investment went to the
telecommunications sector with about $347 million.
7. Whereas
the truly cash-strapped (অপর্যাপ্ত) power, gas and petroleum sector requiring
billions of dollars of FDI managed to draw in an estimated $126 million.
8. By the government’s own admission, much remains to be done in terms of adopting policies that remain unchanged for a stated period.
9. Obviously
there must be a fundamental rethinking along those lines.
10. The
frequent change of policy is not one that attracts investors to commit in the
long term in Bangladesh, touted to be one of the “Next Eleven” economies by
Goldman Sachs.