Bangladesh a potential hotspot for Qatari investments: FBCCI president

Entrepreneurs from Qatar should invest in Bangladesh's energy and infrastructure projects as the potential for mutually beneficial business between the two nations is strong in those areas, said Sheikh Fazle Fahim, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI).

"We hope that investors from Qatar will continue to consider Bangladesh's investment potential in these two sectors, which includes green energy, as well as technology, halal ecosystem, start-ups, innovation and resource sharing for complimentary cooperation," Fahim said.

The FBCCI president made these remarks while addressing a webinar styled, 'Bilateral and Synergistic Opportunities between Qatar and Bangladesh', jointly organised by Bangladesh Forum Qatar and Doha Bank on Wednesday.

Bangladesh has a vibrant domestic market with around 160 million consumers. The country also has access to further 1.8 billion consumers at various markets across Asia through the South Asia Free Trade Agreement and South Asian Association Regional Cooperation, Fahim said.

Similarly, the country enjoys duty-free facilities for shipments to the EU under the Everything but Arms scheme while goods destined for India, China, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are provided with the same benefits under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement.

Besides, Bangladeshi exports are given preferential access to a number of other markets due to its competitive edge in production, he added.

The FBCCI president also said that a recent study conducted by the Japan External Trade Organisation found that Bangladesh is a top destination in the Asia Pacific for Japanese investments.

Despite the long-standing economic relations between Bangladesh and Qatar in the service, energy and human development sectors, there is still room for a reasonably balanced expansion of bilateral trade.

This includes increased exports of fast-moving consumer goods, agro-processed goods, leather, footwear, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, and ICT products and services to Qatar, he added.

To reinforce the fact that Bangladesh can be considered a top investment prospect, Fahim highlighted the measures taken by the finance ministry to address the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, such as policy interventions, increasing money circulation, providing social safety net programmes and cash transfer schemes.

The FBCCI president also cited the central bank's initiative to increase liquidity in the banking sector, introduce a 1 per cent interest rate waiver for a two-month period on all loans, allow deferment of all loan payments without penalty until September and impose interest rate blocks.

It is due to all these measures that local companies of all sizes had some room to breathe even amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Bangladesh Bank also ensured that Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) would survive the Covid-19 fallout by offering credit risk guarantees for funds secured from the government's stimulus packages.

This year, as the second level of intervention, all income taxes were reduced in the national budget. For example, corporate tax was slashed by 2.5 per cent, Fahim said in a statement.

"We believe that a combination of these measures, spearheaded by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, will allow us to sustain the economy for the rest of the year and eventually recover in 2021 and 2022," he added.

Emphasising Bangladesh's potential for foreign investment, Fahim said that despite the pandemic, the country registered 5.2 per cent growth in GDP, 5.4 per cent increase in remittance and 10 per cent bump in foreign reserves in fiscal 2019-20.

Most multinational companies have operations in Bangladesh as it is one of the top five well-performing investment destinations in the world.

Naser Ezaz Bijoy, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bangladesh, said that Bangladesh's investment potential is one of Asia's best-kept secrets.

According to Bijoy, there are six driving forces behind Bangladesh's economic growth and they are: the apparel industry, commerce, remittance, power generation, infrastructure, and digital space.

Government bonds are an opportunity for investment as yields from such schemes are much better in Bangladesh.

Since Qatar has no shortage of liquidity, the country's banks and other financial institutions could invest in Bangladesh's capital market, Bijoy said, adding that a double taxation awareness treaty would help Qatari investors secure maximum benefit.

Ashud Ahmed, ambassador of Bangladesh to Qatar, said that the economic relations between Bangladesh and Qatar are traditionally based on labour exports.

However, the Bangladesh government is providing excellent facilities for prospective investors from various parts of the world and therefore, Qatar could look into Bangladesh, which is a big market and somewhat of a bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia, he said.

The concerned authorities of both the countries have already held several discussions in regards to diversifying bilateral relations while keeping the labour trade intact, Ahmed added.

While addressing the webinar, R Seetharaman, chief executive officer of Doha Bank, said that his company prepared an investment profile of Bangladesh and that they will now explore liquid investments in the country.

Ajay Kumar Sarker, the chief representative of the Representative Office of Doha Bank, was present at the event, presided over by Bangladesh Forum Qatar's Vice-President Jafar Ali Al-Saraf.