Highest at South Asia last year, FBCCI welcomes it
Bangladesh has attracted US$ 913 million in foreign direct investment in 2010 calendar year, a leap by 30 per cent, upgrading the country's position to 114 from 119 out of 141 nations, according to the World Investment Report (WIR).
The Board of Investment (BoI) revealed this while launching the WIR 2011 at its office Tuesday.
In 2009, Bangladesh attracted $700.16 million in FDI and ranked 120th among 141 countries, while in 2008 the country's ranking was 117th with a total inflow of $1.086 billion.
The trend of FDI inflow showed that Bangladesh performed well in the context of South Asian countries, said M Ismail Hossain, professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University, at a press conference at the Board of Investment (BoI) office while launching the report.
The data showed that the inflow of FDI in India declined to $24,640 million last year from $34,613 million in 2009. The inflow of FDI also declined in Pakistan last year, the data showed. In 2010, Pakistan could attract $2,016 million, down from $2,387 million in 2009.
But, FDI inflow increased in Sri Lanka to $478 million in 2010 from its previous $404 million in 2009. BoI executive chairman Dr SA Samad, chairman of Privatisation Commission of Bangladesh (PCB) Dr Mirza Abdul Jalil, member (engineering) of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) Abu Reza Khan, representatives from Bangladesh Bank (BB) and officials concerned of different agencies were present during the launch of the report. It was held at the BoI board room.
The telecom sector alone received $360 million FDI, while the manufacturing sector $238 million in investment from abroad, the report said.
"If a country has sustainable growth rate, the FDI flow will automatically grow up. Bangladesh's annual FDI ratio is not enough. I think this should be 5.0 to 6.0 billion dollars from the existing less than one billion dollars," The BoI executive chairman said.
"The FDI inflow increased in 2010 for arrival of energy companies in the country, during the period a total of $6,276.80 million was estimated as local investment in 1,600 projects, with a 142.55 percent rise compared to the previous year." he added.
Singapore ranked top by investing $317.19 million in Bangladesh in 2010, while UK second with $105.68 million investment, the Netherlands third with $64.92 million, Hong Kong fourth with $63.84 million, USA fifth with $56.95 million and India sixth by investing $43.19 million.
The FDI inflow is low also due to non-expansion of export processing zones (EPZs) as the government plans to construct economic zones to facilitate both local and foreign investors, he said.
News Source:priyo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment