$231 million have so far reached the final stage of approval
Representational image/Reuters
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Representational image/Reuters
Highlights:
- Foreign investment proposal totalled $465 million
- Local investors put forward $700 million
- China leads with $330m
- Proposal conversion rate stands at 18%
The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) and other government authorities received a total of $1.25 billion in investment proposals between January and June this year.
Of the total proposals, foreign investments accounted for $465 million, while local investors put forward $700 million. Joint ventures contributed another $85 million, according to the CA Press Wing.
The figures were disclosed at the 5th meeting of the Investment Coordination Committee held today (28 August) at the Chief Adviser’s Office.
The meeting was chaired by Lutfey Siddiqi, special envoy to the chief adviser on international affairs, and attended by Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur and National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan.
Besides, the meeting said China emerged as the largest source of foreign investment proposals, with commitments of around $330 million. Significant proposals also came from Singapore, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates.
Bida officials informed the meeting that of the $1.25 billion worth of proposals, $231 million have so far reached the final stage of approval.
This represents a conversion rate of around 18%, which they noted is consistent with the global average of 15–20%.
Chattogram Port congestion
The meeting also discussed container congestion at Chattogram Port, where around 6,500 containers have remained stranded for an extended period.
The Chattogram Port Authority informed the committee that more than 1,000 containers had been auctioned in the past two months as part of measures to ease congestion.
Special Envoy Lutfey Siddiqi instructed officials to further accelerate the auctioning process.
Port officials added that preparations were underway to auction another 500 containers next month, with the handover of auctioned goods already in progress.
Bangladesh Business Portal
The meeting also reviewed the progress of the Bangladesh Business Portal (BBP), an integrated online platform that will combine services of Bida, Beza, Bepza, and BSCIC.
Authorities said the platform was in its final stages of development, with a soft launch planned for the first week of September and a full launch by the end of the month.