BE Magazine

28
foreign direct Investment
September at the Lotte Palace Hotel in New York,
urged US entrepreneurs to stay with Bangladesh
for shared benefits and prosperity. The “Bilateral
Investment Treaty” and the “Convention on
Avoidance of Double Taxation” were signed
between the two countries in 1986 and 2004
respectively, with a view to encouraging and
protecting US investment in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has the most liberal investment policy
in South Asia, offering tax holiday, concessionary
duty on import of machinery, protection of foreign
investment by law, unrestricted exit policy and full
repatriation of dividend and capital on exit.
With this liberal investment climate, low cost of
doing business, and a growing consumer market of
over 165 million, the returns on investments of US
businesses in Bangladesh are apparently very high.
Bangladesh hopes to attract more US investment
and engagement, supporting its development goals
to achieve the target of becoming a middle-income
country by 2021. Terming this a ‘win-win option’
for both the countries—an expression reportedly
used by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Key Sectors for Investment
The development arm of the US government,
USAID has been Bangladesh’s development partner
since the country gained independence in 1971. The
USAID Mission in Bangladesh is one of the largest
USAID development assistance programs in the
world.
USAID is partnering with the Government of
Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi private sector to
help diversify Bangladesh’s economy, and stimulate
new streams of economic growth.
The Comprehensive Private Sector Assessment
(PSA), conducted by the USAID between October
2018 and July 2019, identifies six key-sectors that
are the most promising areas for private sector
investment and engagement. The six key sectors
identified by USAID PSA are:
1) Agribusiness (food processing), 2) Light
engineering, 3) ICT, 4) Outsourcing, 5) Tourism,
6) Pharmaceuticals
The study also included ceramics, entrepreneurship,
leather and leather goods, medical equipment,
plastic, renewable energy and energy efficiency,
shipbuilding, shrimp and fish, telecommunications
and vehicle assembly.
SOURCE: www.bdembassyusa.org
Monthly business magazine
December, 2019