Bangladesh is set to merge its existing five regional investment promotion agencies (IPAs) into one centre that will focus on attracting and streamlining foreign direct investment (FDI) to the country.
On Tuesday, Bangladesh’s Interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus met with major foreign investors to discuss the consolidation. He called on officials to resolve land acquisition issues in the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) in front of major investors like South Korean shoemaker Youngone Corporation’s chairman Kihak Sung. Yunus told Sung that the issue would be resolved by February 6th.
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“We want the Korean EPZ to be the model for everyone in Bangladesh. We hope it will attract big investments and create a lot of jobs,” Yunus added.
The next day (January 15), the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) held a seminar titled “Investment Opportunities and Challenges” to discuss the merger of the existing IPAs.
“We’ve received feedback from both foreign and local investors that there are too many IPAs,” BIDA executive chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun said.
“We aim to consolidate all IPAs into a central IPA, allowing investors to resolve their issues through a single entry point instead of multiple ones. This new system will make it easier and faster for investors to determine the right IPA,” he added.
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By GlobalDataPart of the overhaul will include the creation of a private-sector advisory board so that investment decisions are made with input from local stakeholders, an issue that had not been addressed in the past. BIDA will also develop an FDI Heatmap to target priority sectors and bring in investors to boost economic growth.
Bangladesh’s Interim leader Muhammad Yunus took the place of former autocratic PM Sheik Hasina last summer. Hasina was ousted after weeks of student protests evolved into a national movement to remove her from leadership after a 15-year reign. The quick succession of events caused alarm for the apparel industry and, at the time, some brands exited the country.
