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FDI grew 50pc last year

UNB, Dhaka
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bangladesh grew 49.7 percent last year to stand at $ 660.8 million from $441.4 million in 2003.
According to the 4th FDI Inflow Survey report of the Board of Investment (BoI), the amount is also 10.13 percent higher than the strategic FDI target set by the BOI under its Mid-term Strategic Plan 2003-06. The target for the year 2004 was $ 600 million.
Citing the incentives for attracting foreign investment, the BOI in its survey report says, "More investments indicate more confidence in country's business climate."
Among the three main components, re-investment accounts for the highest share (47.7 percent) of the total FDI inflow followed by equity (46.5 percent) and intra-company borrowings (5.8 percent).
The highest FDI came for telecommunications sector in 2004, followed by manufacturing, energy and power.
The telecommunications sector got 36 percent investment while the percentage is 31 for manufacturing, 20 for energy and power and 13 for other sectors.
In a broader sectoral distribution of the FDI in 2004, service sector (66.76 per cent) emerged as the leading sector followed by manufacturing (31.30 percent).
The survey attributes substantial inflow in the telecom and energy sub-sectors as the key reason for the rise of FDI in the service sector.
Telecom represents 36 percent of the total FDI, while energy and power account for about 20 percent.
As a result of opening the PSTN telephony to the private sector, a "sustainable robust growth" in telecom sector is envisaged in the coming years. Besides, existing cellular operators are also expected to continue their investment programme "to firm up healthier market position".
The projected growth of the industry in the coming years would require establishment of sufficient utility infrastructures like energy and power to support the momentum, the survey report suggested.
The principal constituents of manufacturing sector are textile (17.69 percent), chemical (7.16 percent) and leather and rubber (2.83 percent) sub-sectors that represent about 88 per cent of this significant sector. Textile continued to be the highest FDI-recipient in the manufacturing sector. Growth in the manufacturing sector creates enormous employment opportunities.
Agro-based (1.37 percent), food and allied (0.49 percent) and glass and ceramics (0.19 percent) also have been attracting FDI to a certain extent.
BOI officials expect that the announcement of lucrative fiscal incentives for agro-based sectors would attract more FDI in the short and long term.
Western Europe is the largest regional source (45.22 percent) of FDI in Bangladesh during 2004, which could be sub-divided into two-European Union (18 percent) and other Western Europe (27.22 percent). North America's investment amounts to 13.33 percent.
In the European Union, the United Kingdom contributed 16.26 percent that is 90.33 percent of the total FDI from this area.
The developing region consists of Asia (33.61 percent)-- the second largest source-- which includes South, East and Southeast Asia (31.47 percent) and West Asia (2.14 percent). Africa also contributed 3.02 percent of the FDI in 2004.