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Daily Newsletter

17 January 2025

Daily Newsletter

17 January 2025

Bangladesh to target priority sectors for foreign direct investment growth

Bangladesh is set to merge its five regional investment promotion agencies (IPAs) into one centre and target priority sectors to attract and streamline foreign direct investment (FDI) to the country.

Eugenia Perozo January 16 2025

Bangladesh's Interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus met with major foreign investors to discuss the consolidation on Tuesday. He called on officials to resolve land acquisition issues in the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) in front of major investors like South Korean global outdoor clothing manufacturer Youngone Corporation's chairman Kihak Sung. Yunus told Sung that the issue would be resolved by 6 February.

"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 (15 January), 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.

Part 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 enjoyed the largest apparel shipment increase of the top 10 suppliers to the US in November with a 43.7% boost to volumes, according to the latest data from the US Office of Textiles and Apparel (Otexa). This was a bigger increase from the previous month when the Asian country saw a 25% increase in shipments. 

Earlier this month apparel industry experts urged the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to show a united front on the global apparel sourcing stage after 200 of its members in Chattogram called for the swift organisation of elections to re-establish an elected leadership.

In summer 2024 Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus took the place of former autocratic prime minister Sheik Hasina. She 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.

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