20 fresh investment projects coming to Bangladesh

As many as 20 fresh investment projects are being prepared for Bangladesh.

Bangladeshis are major investors in the UAE economy where more than 50,000 businesses are owned and successfully run by Bangladeshi expatriates who employ more than 150,000 people collectively.

"Bangladesh is more than ready to receive a higher level of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that jumped 69 percent last year to US$3.61 billion," Salman F Rahman, Advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister for Private Industry and Investment, who works closely with Bangladesh Prime Minister, said. "We have seen large investments coming from China, Japan, and the United States. We believe, investors from the GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, should take advantage of the lower cost of investment, operations and higher return on investment in Bangladesh.

BIDA, BEZA, and BHTPA – the three Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) of Bangladesh Government are participating in such an international investment conference in the Gulf for the first time – undertaken by Bangladesh Economic Forum, a private sector initiative of the UAE-base Non-Resident Bangladeshi professionals and entrepreneurs.

Bangladesh economy is growing at 7.9 percent in FY18. Bangladesh is on a growth overdrive that will see its economy growing at 8 percent plus in the next few years which will make it the fastest growing economy in the world. In order to sustain 8 percent-plus GDP growth, Bangladesh needs massive foreign and domestic investment which will create employment and ensure sustainable development.

The UAE and the GCC countries could be major sources for investment into Bangladesh. Time has come for Bangladesh to expedite investment opportunities from the UAE and help build the country's future.

Salman F Rahman said - "We are developing 100 economic zones and 28 hi-tech parks in Bangladesh for investors to set up their operations and benefit from the lowest labor cost and very low operational costs. Our brothers and investor friends from the UAE and Gulf should benefit from the growing opportunities in Bangladesh."

Bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the UAE is set to reach to a completely new level this year with the US$10 billion worth of investment pledged by UAE investors into Bangladesh's energy, ports, power and infrastructure sectors that will help fuel the economic growth of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh and the UAE signed four memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on establishing a port, industrial park, supply and setting up a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, power plants, and a special economic zone in Bangladesh, during a three-day visit by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the UAE in February this year.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina witnessed the signing of the documents at St Regis Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The Government of Dubai and Public Private Partnership (PPP) Authority under the Prime Minister's Office signed the first MoU to set up a port, dry port, and an industrial park in Bangladesh. Chairman of DP World, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and Bangladesh Shipping Secretary, M Abdus Samad, signed the document.

Electricity sector of Bangladesh seeing development

Foreign investment in the electricity sector of Bangladesh is going up remarkably every year compared to other countries in the world. In last one year, a total of $2.5 billion has been invested in the power sector to generate 2,000 MW power in private in sector.

It is also expected that another $15 billion investment will be made in the power sector by 2021, according to sources concerned. Power sector analysts said that investment-friendly environment has been created in the country due to prevailing political stability in the country in the last decade and the government is taking newer projects in the sector.

According to sources at Power Division, the total amount of investment in the electricity sector between the time period of 2009 and 2017 is $8.9 billion. Of this, $4.8 billion was invested in the public sector while it is $4.1 billion in the private sector.

Concerned officials said that the government is constantly working to make electricity available for the countrymen by 2021. Bangladesh will be able to achieve its target level of 39,000 MW power generations by 2030 if the current rate of foreign investment continues here.

Another $15 billion is projected to be invested in the sector by the time of 2019-2021. Most of the investment in this sector comes from China, Japan, India and Russia.

Meanwhile, the government has signed agreements with several countries, including Germany, Singapore, and Malaysia. It is expected that investment from those countries will come very soon. Moreover, several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Vietnam have expressed interest in investing in the promising sector, Power Division sources said.

Recently, Reliance Power, India’s largest energy company, has agreed to build the largest gas-based power plant with the capacity of 718 MW at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj. A contract, in this regard, was signed at the Power Division building on September 1 of this year.

Meanwhile, a group of companies of United Arab Emirates led by Metito Utilities and JinkoPower has won a bid to build a 45-55 MW grid-tied PV array in Rangunia upazila of Chittagong district. On August 4, the companies submitted tenders to the Bangladesh Power Development Board expressing their interest to supply power at $0.0749/kWh, the lowest ever recorded in Bangladesh’s nascent solar industry.

Upon completion of the work, it will be able to generate 45 MW to 55 MW of electricity. Bangladesh will be able to buy solar power at an affordable price for twenty years.

The second lowest bidder — a consortium led by Joules Power, WAC Logistics and Jiangsu Zhongtian Technology — offered $0.0875/kWh, followed by $0.1013/kWh by a joint venture under Toma Construction and Kinus Co. Meanwhile, Scatec Solar offered $0.1060/kWh and Canadian Solar offered $0.1313/kWh.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh-China Power Company (Pvt.) Limited (BCPCL) and North West Power Generation Company Limited (NWPGCL) are jointly setting up a coal-based power plant with an estimated cost of $2 billion at Payra in Patuakhali. China's Exim Bank and China Development Bank will lend about 80 per cent of the total cost to build the power plant and the remaining 20 per cent will be invested equally by the NWPGCL and BCPCL. In this connection, the loan agreement has already been signed and it is expected that the fund will be disbursed soon.

Bangladesh’s total installed renewable capacity reached roughly 601.88 MW by the middle of 2019, including 367.95 MW of solar PV, according to statistics from Bangladesh’s Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA).

The power sector, like any other sector in a free market economy, is dictated by the rule of supply and demand. The demand for electricity in our country remains enormous. The electricity demand would be 34,000 MW by the year 2030. That is why the sector has become attractive to the foreign investors. As a country prone to possible adverse effects of climate change, protecting the environment is a priority for us. Moreover, environment-friendly electricity generation is what future demands. As such, the government currently offers incentives for those seeking to invest in solar power generation. The construction of multiple large-scale solar power plants is underway, with at least one being jointly financed by a foreign company.

Customs House Chattogram - bad

Most officials at Customs House Chattogram are not only performing their designated duties but also filling in for vacant posts for an acute shortage of workforce. This in turn is inevitably hampering the supervision of tax evaluation and monitoring of goods meant for import and export while exporters and importers are suffering for the resulting delays in the shipment of goods.

According to customs sources, 651 people are working at the customs house against 1,248 posts. There are 126 first class officers against 210 posts, 277 second class officers against 497 posts, 152 grade three employees against 423 posts, and 103 grade four employees against 118 posts.

Twenty-seven assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners, responsible for evaluating taxes of imported goods apart from monitoring export and import consignments, are working against 63 posts. One official is even overseeing six sections and sub-teams. Assistant Commissioner Mahbubur Rahman is assigned to six sections, namely the assessment section-4 and those on prevention, administration, law, licencing and anti-money laundering.

Fatema Khairun Nur, a deputy commissioner, is assigned to a number of sections and has to discharge duties at five private inland container depots (ICDs). Asma Akter, also an assistant commissioner, has been assigned to five sections, including audit and sample, while Assistant Commissioner Forhad Abbas Khan to five private ICDs. “Regular supervision of import-export goods is being hampered because of the workforce shortage,” said Kazi Mustafizur Rahman, commissioner of Customs House Chattogram. He said almost all officers have to perform additional duties and sometimes they can not scrutinise invoice documents and test products properly. “If we get an adequate workforce, we will be able to put extra focus on the consignments of goods of importers and clearing and forwarding agents, who were earlier found trying to evade tax,” he said.

In the last five years, the import-export of Bangladesh has nearly doubled but the size of the workforce has remained less than half of that required.