Finance Minister Shah A M S Kibria has said Bangladesh's economic growth is expected to reach a steady seven per cent by next two years, reports UNB.

"Now there is a growth mood In Bangladesh ... the growth will accelerate further." he said while opening the 9th branch of Southeast Bank at Gulshan in the city yesterday.

Southeast Bank Chairman M A Kashem, FBCCI President and Director of the bank Yussuf Abdullah Harun and the bank's managing director, Syed Anlsul Haque, also spoke at the opening function.

Addressing the function, the finance minister expressed his satisfaction that established expatriate Bangalees have Joined the bank.

Welcoming the Bangalees living abroad. Kibria said so long the role of expatriate Ban-

galees were not evaluated properly and that's why the country failed to get cooperation from them.

He hoped that the non-resident Bangalees would come forward to invest massively in their motherland and involve themselves in nation-building activities.

In this context, he cited the example of China where 53 per cent of foreign investment was being done by the expatriate Chinese. Non-resident Indians were also contributing in the reconstruction of their country, he said.

Kibria said when the foreign currency reserve in Pakistan fell to an alarming level, the expatriate Pakistanis came forward to remit large sums of money at the call of their prime minister.