Germany targets Bangladesh as a lucrative investment destination considering the latter's steady economic growth for the past several years despite political instability.

As part of the move, a German trade delegation will visit Bangladesh in April next year to explore trade and investment possibilities in areas like light engineering, renewable energy, ICT and jute and other agro products, a senior German diplomat said.

“Bangladesh with a population of more than 150 million is a big market. The economy is growing steadily,” Rolf Dieter Reinhard, deputy head of mission and counsellor of economic affairs and press at the German Embassy in Dhaka, told The Daily Star.

Bangladesh's economy witnessed a 6 percent growth for the last three fiscal years. The economy is poised to grow between 6.2 percent and 6.5 percent also this year.

He said an increase in purchasing capacity and a huge and dedicated workforce would help Bangladesh attract Germany's investment. But, he sees congenial climate with political stability and improved infrastructure as an important prerequisite to investment.

Data show that around 41 percent of the German enterprises now make investments overseas, which was 30 percent ten years back.

However, German investment in Bangladesh has so far been only 50 million euros, mainly in the textile sector. But the trade between the two countries is growing and the figure reached about 1.5 billion euros in the fiscal year 2007-08.

Now the biggest economy in Europe is seriously considering a big investment here to reduce the bilateral trade gap cashing in on the cheap workforce and rising economic activities.

“We hope that this interest of investment will turn into a reality,” German Ambassador Frank Meyke told a recent meeting of the Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in Dhaka.

Rolf Reinhard said: “I think the workforce is one of the biggest assets in Bangladesh.”

On poor German investment in Bangladesh, he said, “As long as Bangladesh is widely perceived as a country afflicted with confrontational politics, hartals and politically motivated violence, potential investors will shy away.”

“Constructive parliamentary work, renouncing and banning hartals, curbing corruption, structural reforms and achievements of the caretaker government could send a positive signal to German investors,” Frank Meyke said.