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’Good first step to boost investors' confidence’

By Anwarul Haq
Hie Ini.ige of fhingiAclesh as dtsnster-pcoiH- and aid cle pendent country has been considerably erased with l-.iding gkitxd aud regional Uy vesiorn being exposed to flrst-hand information about the country * economic scenario.
Whatever lie die immediate outcome of the just concluded two day Euromoney confey ence^ the level of confidence has definitely improved, said, leading foreign an0 local In-vrsforo and riipfomatji while giving ihelr Instanl reactions to The Daily Star yesterday
Participant* observed that the first line of action tor gen eraling investment ha* been completed It now ha* to be supported try more follow up action* like infrastructure buikilng and creating an en-abftngat mospbere.
Cornelia Wrtrabech Chief of the ecrwMMi>tr and commercial sec tion of the US embassy said: "It was a very exciting confer ence. Everything was nicely presented The foreign parfF-. tpants hat) a good idea of the
economic |wll les and pro* peel* "
Mabbtib Jamil, president of the Foreign InvcHtors Cham tier of Cnniinrnr and hiduMry and MD l Singer Bangladesh. *al«l: "I Itelleve tlic participant* used the opporlunilv for getting a firsthand assessment. This assessment which is likely to be positive, will lead to Investnsnts The conic rcncc has given tremendous ex0r>s(ire to Bangladesh. ptrlFtilHrlv to wh”' If Im* rWr in the last (lure vrar* ‘
Tim (Hover of EBI Seen rifle*, based in the Nether land* lell dial Bahgl.idrsh Mill ha* sonic wiy tn go before it ' tn lx- srriotisiv cnnsxlered a* a ina|or inarkrt bv foreign plavrr*
We look al Bangladesh In a different per*|»ei|ve having Invested here Houmer we do feel that In the short term, it ts not |iie right to put more money into the share market du* to Ifoiiidatloxi prohfem*. etr But In ihe long term, we Irrl iiHifideni as international investors from Europe about ihe |Ho»pe is here." he said
Bill Derringer of the International Development Enterprises said he was highly pleased try the presentation of Latlfur Rahman, a leading entrepreneur. about food pro easing and agricultural oppor I unities Ui Bangladesh There is a tremendous scope in agri cultural products like oil »ee>l» vegetable arid lxxf pro f e Alng |K>ssibilltles whU h Banghidedi could sell outside ‘ he sax!
Rallq Ahmed an expatriate Bangladeshi from Coopers and Lybrand LLP baaed In Ihe US fell that the Dhaka Stork f.vrhangf should be capttailiwd for foreigners investment op portunity He said that there were three types of risk In the iwal market These were re lated to liquidity. polftkaJ and •octal aspects
Philip Wu Chong Ouan of the Singapore Trade Deve topment Board suggested Bangladesh keep up Its re iwms programme He said the private sector should receive more encouragement He informed this correspondent that a trade delegation from Singapore would viMt Bang ladeafe shortly to particularly see the k»id sector
Clarence Chan of DUTA International Finance Company of Hong Kong said that his company was impressed by ihe inference and would project the market vibrancy lo Its • I lentS bac k home Ite how icr obaerved Tt Is a pity for xir country to have sinkes.
IK K al activities have lo tie •u .tox-ed and ratioriailarcf lot • H ouragliig erwraeas investors mote.'
Khalid Raja uf Cora ola Corporation covering Sou tlwast Asia said Dial be had heard about |a*opl; being Im pivsatd about lire liberalisation fwogruiiiinc "We have to draw a line between invest merit online from abroad and the development ol the stock ■ iiaikrt Iwir * tir ».ud
Bangladesh High ouinu ssMKiei to India Faiooq Sobtian said. We haw seen a tot of Lnloot from focal and foreign .Investors Besides the con ference had been very rd ik alive lor our own pm ale and government sectors "
The senior diplomat who is expected lo join as the new Foreign Secryiary short!). in formed that there were eight Bangladeshi envoys attending the conference which he hoped would "Help us directly tn our task ui promoting foreign investment for the country *
He said Our prospects are as good, if not be tier, in certain sectors than other South Asian countries "
Tlie par Iki pants who have tour have been able to see for themselves the investment prospects and potentialities, lie said and added. ’If our siiare market can go up to one billion dollars in one year, if we can have more scrips in thv inarkef. including offerings from public sectors, in two years liw market should r/ach a feu billion more.'
Raslied Ahmed ambassador to Japan, said that some of the critical questions have been answered for ihe benefit of foreign Investors and this had helped lo nnknr some of ihe distorted perceptions about BangkKtesli
Tile em-oy said that after his return to Japan arrangements would be made to hold a series of seminars in different cities to create awareness. Japan, he said, was In the stage of reloca lion of many industries and 'some could come lo Bangia desh when they know about the prospects and security we are offering."
M Aminuzzaman. Deputy .Managing Director of Eastern
Bank, said that after the con ference prospective investors hie started lo think post lively He. however, obseryrd that the presentation* were oriented towards the capital market and it would be belter If more conferences were organised on direct Investment prospects
Aiiwarul Amin a veteran banker and chairman of Equity Resources observed that the conference provtde^ the Over seas investors to Bangladesh firsthand which was Impor tant since they had been mostly Introduced lo the country through brokers and agents
"Despite the global slump In the equity market the Interest in Bangladesh will remain because of its thriving vibrant and emerging nature '
M Mor shed Khan Special Envoy to the Prime Minister described the conference by saying There Is a convulsion going on it is for the Rrst tune tn our nationhood that foreign investors hiyl the direct opportunity to interact with out focal investors We have been able to send a message that Bangiadeah la today poised to make a bap forward
A S Mahmud a former fXXl chief and ( hairman Bangia desh Iximps UmMrd said that the conference was sviscrssfirt In giving a new impetus lowsrds infusing investors confidence
Sobel Rahman Chairman of the Bexlmro Group, said We heard very gmd dellhrraUons ' The image of the country will go up and investors con ft dnxr will increase TTiai will add to the inveslnieni flow In the country "
South New Court s Babtha Suhan tmasd in Gxvton Mul tlie confereiiiv was an excel lent publicity campaign for Kangladedi She however tell that there was liquids I Ion problem which should he overiome
Laulur RahiiMn a former presrderii of Uh- M Cl Mid The parucipalUMi inapite of the dislocation la a clear denMNiatialion of the enthusl asm which lire business community was feebng One will not expect from this meeting - for money lo flow from to iiMMrow — ImiI h will art as an investment tor further invest incut
Salniaii F Rahman presi drul of the FBCC1. said As an image building exercise the conference was very successful The success of the confer ence is not necessarily mea sured by the amount of in restnient ihal comes out of it li is pgrt of an overall process ha putting Bangladesh on the liiiancial map '
Salman said that all emerging markets arc nervous because of the Mexican crash. "One good result is that if there was any danger of the Bangladesh market going down. I think this conference is going to give tlie local mar ket i tot ol confidence."
He felt tliat there sltould be a follow-up of similar meetings and get tc^ethers and added: 1 think, in th? tong term, the outcome would be good.'
Abul Hasan Chowdhury. Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Awami League, said a great deal of enthusiasm has been shown about> the investment potential in Bangladesh.
Jamaluddln Ahmed a former Deputy Prime Minister, said that the conference had been able lo open up the tremendous investment oppor tunittes. particularly the stock market He said that a great number of young entrepreneurs are now keen to'fnvest.
Tills did not happen even two years ago. That means that the uovernment's economic policies are now working.''