Bangladesh expects more investment from Japan

Bangladesh government assured that potential investors from Japan will be given full cooperation in a bid to drive up the number of investments made in Bangladesh.

"The strength and stability of our economy and our strong political leadership is undoubted. We are very grateful to be considered as a possible destination for further Japanese investments," said Salman F Rahman, the prime minister's private industry and investment affairs adviser. Rahman made these remarks while addressing a virtual discussion styled, 'Dialogue to drive Japanese investments in Bangladesh' jointly organised by the Prime Minister's Office, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Over 200 participants from Japan's private sector joined the webinar, aimed at attracting investments from the island nation.

During the event, Rahman urged Japanese businesses to take advantage of Bangladesh's high corporate profitability, business-friendly policies, massive domestic market and strategic access to key markets across the world.

While addressing the event, Ito Naoki, the Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh, asked investors from his country to explore the diverse investment opportunities available here. Bangladesh's economic landscape will transform in a few years with adequate support from the Japanese government, Naoki said. The ambassador also mentioned Japan's cooperation in the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt initiative, the Mass Rapid Transit project and the expansion of Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Beximco Group stands in the path of success

Beximco Group has a long history of doing the right thing at the right moment. It also has a history of coming forward in times of need.  The pharmaceutical business of Beximco Group was the first to start making and exporting a generic version of remdesivir, a drug in the spotlight as a treatment for COVID-19.The textile and apparel unit of the company, one of the largest in Bangladesh, in May 2020 exported 6.5 million medical gowns custom made to the specifications of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. The company's pharmaceutical business, Beximco Pharma, is Bangladesh's top pharmaceutical exporter and third-largest overall producer by sales. Since last month, Beximco Pharma has exported 25,000 vials of Bemsivir to customers in Nigeria, Azerbaijan, the Philippines, Venezuela and Pakistan, where it is cooperating with local drugmaker Searle.

Beximco has also been donating Bemsivir to local public hospitals since getting approval for its formulation on May 21. Authorities in Bangladesh, the U.S., Japan, India and elsewhere have endorsed intravenous use of remdesivir to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Beximco Pharma already exports five drugs to the U.S. and has regulatory approval for nine others there. Its production facilities have also been certified by regulators from Europe, Australia, Canada and other nations. COVID-19, however, has had a mixed impact on the company. In reporting its fiscal third-quarter results last month, Beximco Pharma noted that the pandemic had depressed visitation to hospitals and clinics and caused prices for active ingredients for its drugs to climb.

The unit warned its revenue growth for the year ended June 30 would likely be less than previously expected while noting that sales for the first nine months had risen 13.3% to 19.11 billion taka ($221.31 million). Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv estimate that Beximco Pharma's annual gross profit margin contracted by almost 1.5 percentage points to 46.4%.

Beximco's textiles and apparel operation supplies products to Western retailers including Target, Zara, Michael Kors, PVH, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. The group's new PPE unit, set up with a $30 million investment in late March, is now making 50 million masks, gowns and other types of protective gear a month. It projected that the company will export $250 million worth by the end of this year. Next year, it sees exports doubling and domestic PPE sales reaching $120 million. If realized, this would be a tremendous boost for Beximco Ltd., the group's flagship listed unit on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges. Textiles generated 21.2 billion taka ($245.53 million), or almost 90% of the unit's total revenue, in the year ended June 2019. Total revenues for the first nine months of the current fiscal year were down 10.5% at 16.44 billion taka.

The company's contract to supply the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with washable long-sleeve gowns came via American clothing company HanesBrands, which in April won an order valued at $250 million to supply 20 million such garments to the bureau.

Beximco, meanwhile, is working on setting up a PPE plant in Detroit in partnership with another textile company and is investing in a mask plant with a second partner in Texas as well as considering similar projects in Europe.