The four-member team led by Executive Chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI) Nazrul Islam is scheduled to hold investment promotion seminars in Canada, England and Germany targeting mainly the non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs).

Such a visit, the state-run investment promotional agency said, is the first of its kind, as the previous tours were basically aimed at convincing the foreign companies to invest in the country.

This time the Bangladesh team will focus the country's investment-friendly scenario to the NRBs, who have already established themselves as successful entrepreneurs in foreign lands.

These entrepreneurs will be invited to invest their money in the manufacturing sector of their motherland instead of spending the money on lands and lavish apartments.

The seminars to be organised in Toronto, England, Birmingham, Manchester and Cologne in collaboration with Bangladesh mission in host countries will also apprise the foreign investors of various incentives and facilities the Bangladesh government offers.

A BoI high official told The Daily Star that they felt it necessary to go for such an initiative following a lot of queries from the NRBs about investment opportunities in the country.

He said the government eyes utilising the huge amount remitted by the Bangladeshis living abroad every year in generating employment opportunities for the local people.

The NRBs would be given the similar facilities offered to the foreign investors, the official said, adding that the atmosphere in the country is now more conducive to investment as it witnessed an improvement in law and order since declaration of state of emergency and crackdown on corruption.

If the mission succeeds, he said, similar delegation would go to America and other countries where Bangladeshis live in a large number.

The current delegation is scheduled to back home on June 7.

Official data show that over five million Bangladeshis are living abroad and they remit over $5 billion per annum.

Pointing to the flourishing information technology (IT) sector in the Indian city Bangalore, which experienced significant contribution from the expatriate citizens of that country, the BoI source said, "This type of labour intensive industry can also be sprang up in our country, if the NRBs come forward."