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OPINION

A New Era for Growth and Prosperity

Dr F H Chowdhury
If sucess of a conference is measured by the publicity given by the local press and the media. FT Conference 5-7 November held in Dhaka must be called a great sucess. Although the conference was organised to draw foreign investments, the number of foreign investors were few and far between. The government had mobilised all its big guns to publicise the generous terms available to outside investors if they choose to invest in Bangladesh.
The foreign investors have clearly got some unease about Investing in Bangladesh due to the recent political conditions and lack of substained economic growth. The local investors who are the backbone of the national economy, should be given equal opportunities and encouraged to invest in parallel with the foreign investors. In this way the outside Investors will feel secure and this will give them incentives to Invest in Bangladesh.
Although there are estab lished foreign companies doing good business in Bangladesh and many of them have been here over many decades, the conference did not result in large investments by foreign companies. Although the eon ference was very comprehen-
sive in outlining the current state of Bangladesh economy and all the government agencies were bending over backwards to attract foreign investments. there were no great surprises an immediate declaration of decisions by foreign investors. No great joint ventures were signed on the dotted lines. This is a pity given the current condusive atmosphere in Investment.
EPZ and Private EPZ« : Apart from two government Eras created in 1980 and 1993 the government has enacted a bill to allow private investors to set up private Eras. One such venture has drawn a great deal of attention and that is a Korean EPZ proposed to be built on a site of 2500 acres of industrial lands across the river Karnaphully around the Marine Academy in Chittagong. Another such zone of similar size is being talked about to be created for the Japanese
The government may be making an error of Judgement here as these lands once given away to the foreigners, may never be claimed back and this Ihay turn out to be a regrettable decision in retrospect The gov
ernment should therefore be urged to re negotiate the terms and conditions of these foreign EPZs as this is an infringement in the sovereignty of the Country. The government should speedily pass an act of parliament to redress the situation.
Infrastructure: A great deal was discussed about the infrastructure in Bangladesh Without good road network and air communication, places are difficult to reach and this does not encourage foreign investment and therefore these facilities should be improved speedily The great rivers of Bangladesh have divided the country in several zones and these zones can be connected by very expensive bridges for which a great of international aid is needed. Internal domestic flights should be increased and more districts should be connected by air or helicopter services Maritime services should be improved too Foreign investors are wry encouraged with the democratic credentials of the present government and given that and a very deregulated economy on the free market lines foreign investments will begin to pour in
The writer was a delegate to F T Conference on Bangladesh.