With Bangladesh set to earn the middle-income country tag by 2021 that is expected to bring more foreign investments to the country, its Finance Minister AMA Muhith cited a recent study conducted by US-based global information company IHS Inc that rated Bangladesh among the Asia Pacific’s top 10 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) hotspots.
The other countries included in that list are China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.
Also Read – Bangladesh registers over 30% rise in FDI in July-Jan period
“Despite political turbulence, Bangladesh has made considerable economic progress over the past decade, with an average annual GDP growth exceeding 6.5 per cent per year since 2006. Bangladesh has emerged as an attractive location for FDI into low-cost textiles, clothing and footwear manufacturing because of its relatively low-wage costs compared to coastal China,” the IHS Inc study report stated, adding that among the other South Asian economies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are expected to show rapid growth over the next decade.
According to IHS Asia Pacific Chief Economist Rajiv Biswas, the Asia Pacific region would grow at an average annual rate of 4.5 per cent per year, boosted by rapid growth in consumer spending in China, India and Southeast Asia. He also maintained that China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative is a key long-term growth driver for the region.
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It may be mentioned here that Bangladesh’s July-January FDI has reportedly registered a substantial growth of about 30.4 per cent as compared to the net FDI received in the same period in financial year 2014-15.
According to the Bangladesh Bank, the net FDI in the 2014-15 fiscal was US$1.7 billion, a little over US $1.43 billion of the previous fiscal.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith says the credit for this goes to the ‘strong’ base of Bangladesh’s economy and the ‘stable’ political condition, which have resulted in the rise in FDI despite global recession. “The rise in FDI means that an environment of investment has been created in the country. Bangladesh is getting attractive to the foreign investors,” Muhith said, adding, “It has positively affected the foreign investment.”
