‘Regional link will make FDI fruitful’

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said Bangladesh’s establishment of ‘strategic relations’ with big neighbours and connectivity to a regional value-added chain will make foreign investments in the country ‘fruitful’.

She said this while inaugurating the International Investment Forum-2014 organised by the Board of Investment (BoI) at the Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The prime minister said: "Blue economy has opened up huge prospects for us to utilise sea resources.”

She said Bangladesh had started work with several big economies for establishing strategic relations and being connected to a regional value-added chain. “I consider these the steps towards future development.”

Hasina said all the countries concerned would be benefit from implementation of a coherent production process and mutual growth model.

She said she gave special importance to Bay of Bengal triangular growth.

“This growth might act as catalyst to enhance our trade and investment among the South and East Asian nations including China and Japan,” she further said.

Bangladesh's trade expectations were directly linked to the maritime territory, the prime minister said, adding that undetermined sea borders with India and Myanmar were a big development barrier before the country.

She said Bangladesh had secured an amicable solution to the problem at the government’s initiative and every country got their legitimate share of the sea.

Hasina invited foreign entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh to avail of the facilities being offered to them.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith and local and foreign entrepreneurs also spoke at the function chaired by BOI Executive Chairman SA Samad.

Representatives from around 20 countries attended the daylong forum.