An American consultancy, engaged in advising the government on industrial policy matters, advocates that Bangladesh should shed traditional concerns and woo Indian in vestment by establishing direct road link.

Policy Implementation and Anal ysls Group, a I 'AID project, also insists on exploring Chinese investment with exchKive attention.

To ensure the proposed investment strategy to click. Bangladesh should link it to those countries through highways. rommended the PLAG in its latest report, made avail-abk to INB yesterday .

A new dimension of investment strategy, based on vision rather than traditional concerns, should be di retted towards drawing Chinese and Indian investment originally through infrastructure projects,” says the report.

The report forecast tliat building a highway from India to Chittagong port, which India itself has long been longing to do. would induce significant Indian investments into Bangladesh.

Ihe report also refers to another pro|H>sed highway from Calcutta through Dhaka to Shillong. Gauhati and other northeast regions having "strategic interest to India"

W hik- advocating highways be-

tween Bangladesh and India. PIAG appeared endorsing the sensitive is sue of trade transit between the two neighbours.

Ronald P Black Chief of the Party of PIAG. when contac ted for clarification. sakl "Serious consider ation shoukl be given to the transit issue" lor the interest of investment in Bangladesh to ensure the desired level of its economic growth.

According to PIAG. Bangladesh received a palm 1'4 million I' do! lars in Foreign Direct Investment (FDD in 1 yM. compared to 1 " billion dollars netted bv A k-tnam

Tlte PtA report Itself, however, says "the strategy (it suggested) is speculative and provocative to some."

Although the report recognises that such highways would be of "strategic interest" to India, it simultaneously foresees an investment inflow front India. "Highways are known to be magnets for investments. "

.... There is not a lot of evidence that Indian entrepreneurs our cultural counterparts are falling over each other in trying to invest here. This would probabh cliange if we join with the Indians to build a highway _.

"Bangladesh will not achieve take-off without Indian investment"

says da PIAG report quoting from an international publkation.

ultural affinity* is another fac tor which PLAG Finds advantageous tor Bangladesh in receiving Indian capital.

Arguing that cultural affinity is largely determining destinations of foreign investments, it cited continued bias of Investible surplus of the East and South East Asian countries to regional neighbours.

As a balance to "Indian involvement". the report recommends at reacting Chinese and Myanmar inter est in constructing another highway from Mandalay in Myanmar to Chittagong as another leg of investment magnet". Such a highway, the report indicates, will open up routes for Bangladesh to the whole South-East Asia having an economic boom with free inflow of huge foreign invest merit

hina and Mandalay are already linked by highway , and China has announced that it intends to run a rail system from Kunming to Yangun.

The report preached big investments. like KAFCO, which it says, could spur the country into an accel erated "growth trajectory.

According to the report, unemployment rate in the country exceeds 30 per cent

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