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CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 4/2017

CD is an independent and impartial magazine and is the medium of communication between foreign representatives of international and UN-organisations based in Vienna and the Austrian political classes, business, culture and tourism. CD features up-to-date information about and for the diplomatic corps, international organisations, society, politics, business, tourism, fashion and culture. Furthermore CD introduces the new ambassadors in Austria and informs about designations, awards and top-events. Interviews with leading personalities, country reports from all over the world and the presentation of Austria as a host country complement the wide range oft he magazine.

CD is an independent and impartial magazine and is the medium of communication between foreign representatives of international and UN-organisations based in Vienna and the Austrian political classes, business, culture and tourism. CD features up-to-date information about and for the diplomatic corps, international organisations, society, politics, business, tourism, fashion and culture. Furthermore CD introduces the new ambassadors in Austria and informs about designations, awards and top-events. Interviews with leading personalities, country reports from all over the world and the presentation of Austria as a host country complement the wide range oft he magazine.

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LE MONDE BANGLADESH | INTERVIEW<br />

LE MONDE EXPERT´S VIEW<br />

Bangladesh‘s business potential<br />

on the rise Oskar Andesner, Commercial Counsellor in New Dehli<br />

“Bangladesh will go on to work really hard to fulfill our Vision 2041, which is to<br />

become a fully developed country by that years.“<br />

road connection. The other big project is<br />

the construction of two units of nuclear power<br />

plants with a combined capacity of<br />

2,400 megawatt of electricity, using Russian<br />

technology. Also, we are building the first<br />

mass rapid transit system in our capital city<br />

of Dhaka, which with its more than 15 million<br />

inhabitants is one of the mega cities of<br />

the world.<br />

Bangladesh is welcoming around 1 million tourists<br />

each year and the numbers are increasing rapidly,<br />

mainly due to more and more visitors from China,<br />

Japan and South Korea...<br />

I am proud that we also have more and<br />

more visitors from the EU countries, notably<br />

from United Kingdom, France, Italy<br />

and Germany as well. Let me answer with a<br />

message of Mr. Rashed Khan Menon, Honorable<br />

Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism<br />

of Bangladesh: ”Bangladesh strongly<br />

believes that tourism can play a critical role<br />

to foster and sustain economic growth in<br />

achieving Sustainable Development Goals<br />

and Agenda 2030. In that context, the<br />

Government of Bangladesh undertook<br />

some significant policy decisions. Tourism<br />

has been declared as one of the thrust sectors<br />

in the Industrial Policy of 2009. National<br />

Tourism Policy was adopted in 2010<br />

and Bangladesh Tourism Board was established<br />

for comprehensive development of<br />

the sector. As part of our major initiatives,<br />

the visitors can now enjoy eco & adventure<br />

tourism, river & maritime cruises, and<br />

community-based tourism besides our traditional<br />

tourist attractions.<br />

To enjoy the unforgettable experience of<br />

Ruposhi Bangla, I have the pleasure to invite<br />

the friendly people of Austria and Central<br />

European countries to visit Bangladesh.“<br />

Please name some of these touristic highlights.<br />

One of our major attractions would be<br />

‘Cox‘s Bazar‘ sandy sea beach which is the<br />

longest unbroken sea beach of the world,<br />

located in the southern part of Bangladesh<br />

bordering Myanmar.<br />

It is a 120 km long sandy beach with no<br />

rock or canal dividing it from where you<br />

can see a beautiful sunrise. Plus, there is<br />

another long beach, called ‘Kuakata Beach‘<br />

in the middle of the long coastline from<br />

where you can see both sunrise and sunset.<br />

Then, for eco-tourism we have the largest<br />

mangrove forests of the world where<br />

you can see tigers, deer and all kinds of<br />

birds and other animals which is a central<br />

part of our eco-tourism strategy. And we<br />

also have many archeological sites dotting<br />

the verdant landscape of Bangladesh.<br />

Buddhist Monasteries built from the 7th<br />

to the 12th century, or even much before<br />

that time, include amongst others, Paharpur<br />

Monastery in Naogaon, considered to<br />

be one of the world‘s largest Buddhist monasteries<br />

and one of the important world<br />

cultural heritage sites. All of these are easily<br />

to be reached either by train or by car and<br />

the best time for travelling to Bangladesh<br />

would be from November to March.<br />

During that season, many visitors are<br />

booking a car with local driver which costs<br />

some 900-1,000 Euros for a full month, including<br />

fuel within the capital city driving.<br />

Would it be accurate to say that your country is<br />

following the path of China which also has made<br />

big steps forward in a small period of time?<br />

You may say so. Being a young and<br />

small country with a very large population<br />

we have gone a very respectable way over<br />

the last ten years. International financial<br />

institutions like the World Bank and others<br />

have already accepted Bangladesh as lower<br />

middle income country, while we expect to<br />

be graduated as a middle income country<br />

by 2021. I wish to humbly note that<br />

Bangladesh‘s GDP at purchasing power parity<br />

is now bigger than many EU countries,<br />

including Austria. Furthermore, we aspire<br />

to be a developed nation economically by<br />

the 70th anniversary of our independence.<br />

We have achieved spectacular progress in<br />

eliminating certain childhood killer diseases<br />

and improved basic healthcare for our<br />

people. Bangladesh has become a model<br />

for women empowerment, in particular<br />

political empowerment. For the last 27 years,<br />

the head of government of our country<br />

is a woman, while the opposition leader in<br />

the parliament is also a woman. But our<br />

hard working people, including farming<br />

communities, already have made a miracle<br />

in our country. They have turned Bangladesh<br />

from a chronic food deficit country to<br />

a food surplus country in just 45 years, rising<br />

from the devastation of the liberation<br />

war. In just 12 months we have achieved a<br />

constitution, and after 16 years of military<br />

dictatorship, Bangladesh for last 27 years is<br />

a parliamentary democracy now. During<br />

this time, we have built up a good physical<br />

and IT infrastructure. which we are improving<br />

further. For example, 140 million of<br />

our people already have mobile connection.<br />

At present, we are developing 100 special<br />

economic zones besides 8 existing export<br />

processing zones in the country. This<br />

is why the UN Industrial Development<br />

Organisation UNIDO has recognised Bangladesh<br />

as one of the leaders of industrialisation<br />

from the LDCs (less developed<br />

countries). We will continue our efforts to<br />

realize our ‘Vision 2041‘ as well, to become<br />

a fully developed nation by then.<br />

PHOTO: RALPH MANFREDA<br />

PHOTO: BEIGESTELLT<br />

Oskar Andesner<br />

since August 2015<br />

serves as Commercial<br />

Counsellor at the<br />

Austrian Embassy in<br />

New Delhi and is<br />

responsible for India,<br />

Nepal, Bhutan,<br />

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka<br />

and the Maldives.<br />

Rapid urbanisation, especially in Dhaka, offers a lot of opportunities for Austria.<br />

Bangladesh had one of the highest GDP growth rates<br />

worldwide in 2016 with 7.2%. The argument that<br />

Bangladesh’s GDP is small given its population – more than<br />

160 million – is of course valid, but the stated fact about one<br />

of the highest GDP growth rates in the world in 2016 is not<br />

very well known, especially in Europe. Furthermore, GDP<br />

growth around 6% is also projected for the coming years<br />

which gives rise to business optimism.<br />

It is also true, however, that Bangladesh is still a very poor<br />

country with a GDP per capita of around USD 1.500, but the<br />

economic indicators show a positive picture and the political situation has<br />

shown considerable stabilisation within the last years, although there are still<br />

significant challenges ahead. Bangladesh’s inflation rate has been tamed for the<br />

last couple of years and the two big regional players close to Bangladesh – India<br />

and China – have pledged to invest heavily in the country. Especially India has<br />

vital interests in Bangladesh as improved infrastructure in Bangladesh would<br />

help to connect the north east of India to the rest of the country.<br />

Due to the positive development of the economic data and rising interest of<br />

Austrian companies towards Bangladesh, Advantage Austria – the internationalisation<br />

agency of Austria that also organises the Commercial Sections at the<br />

Austrian Embassies worldwide – will organise a Business Mission to Bangladesh<br />

from 25.2. to 1.3.2018 to Dhaka and Chittagong. The aim of this Business Mission<br />

is to offer Austrian companies the opportunity to discover the market or deepen<br />

their existing relations with Bangladesh. Austrian companies already carried out<br />

a number of projects in Bangladesh. A recent example of the use of Austrian<br />

technology is the commissioning of a new steel plant by Primetals for GPH Ispat<br />

in Chittagong. Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Austria has been<br />

increasing steadily for the last years, especially also the imports from<br />

Bangladesh to Austria which profit from the “Everything but Arms“ (EBA)<br />

programme from the European Union. Imports from Bangladesh to Austria<br />

mainly consist of garments and textiles, the majority of Austrian companies with<br />

partners in Bangladesh export machinery and equipment to Bangladesh. The<br />

bilateral trade between Austria and Bangladesh amounted to more than EUR 750<br />

million last year which is a historic record.<br />

The main focus in Bangladesh nowadays is on development of infrastructure<br />

because the country lacks energy generation facilities and transmission lines,<br />

proper roads and railway lines, etc. Further, the rapid urbanisation in Bangladesh<br />

leads to various infrastructure projects like a planned metro in Dhaka because<br />

the traffic situation in big cities – especially Dhaka – is deteriorating. Water<br />

supply, waste (water) management and solutions to environmental hazards such<br />

as air pollution are also very pressing topics in Bangladesh. The Austrian<br />

Development Bank (OeB) has also been active in Bangladesh for a while,<br />

supporting projects to help small and medium sized companies and to build up<br />

energy infrastructure. All in all, Bangladesh is a country that should be seriously<br />

considered to do business with because it hosts a big number of young people<br />

(29% of the population is below 15 years) who are aspiring a bright future.<br />

BANGLADESH – YOUR ULTIMATE INVESTMENT DESTINATION IN SOUTH ASIA<br />

Investment Incentives<br />

(include but are not limited to)<br />

• Investment is portected by law<br />

• Tax holiday: 5 to 10 years for selected sectors<br />

• Tariff concessions on import of capital machinery, spare parts,<br />

raw materials of the export-oriented industries<br />

• Cash incentives and export subsidies ranging from 5% to 20%<br />

• Funds for export promotion, export credit guarantee scheme<br />

• Remittance of royalty, technical know-how and technical assistance,<br />

franchise and other permissible fees<br />

• Citizenship by investing a minimum of US$ 1,000.000<br />

• Online time bound investment services at BIDA<br />

• One-stop Service Centre provides all service approvals at BIDA<br />

What is said about Bangladesh?<br />

Citi Investment Research & Analysis, Goldman Sachs, The International<br />

Monetary Fund (IMF), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), JPMorganChase,<br />

Morgan Stanley, An HSBC report (2012), McKinsey & Co., The Deutsche<br />

Bank AG, Germany, The World Bank and PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)<br />

have spoken highly about investment potentials of Bangladesh.<br />

Why Bangladesh?<br />

• Stable democracy and strong leadership<br />

• Welcoming, liberal and friendly people<br />

• Highly skilled educated low-cost workforce<br />

• Strategic location, Centre of Regional Connectivity<br />

• Strong and fast growing local market<br />

• Low cost and availability of power & energy<br />

• Proven Export Competitiveness<br />

• Competitive Incentives<br />

• Export Processing Zones, Economic Zones<br />

• Best Investment Climate<br />

BANGLADESH<br />

INVESTMENT DEVELOPMENT<br />

AUTHORITY<br />

The apex government agency responsible for promotion<br />

and facilitating private investment in Bangladesh.<br />

BANGLADESH<br />

ECONOMIC ZONES AUTHORITY<br />

www.bida.gov.bd<br />

www.beza.gov.bd<br />

46 Cercle Diplomatique 4/<strong>2017</strong>

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