& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

COLUMN

PPP in investment promotion

IFTY Islam
Previously, I discussed public private part nerships (PPP), the importance of effective nation branding to attract more foreign direct investment, as well as learning from some of our dynamic regional neighbours.
In today's column, I want to outline a recently announced initiative in India for investment promotion that combines all of the above themes and one that 1 believe Bangladesh should also consider implementing.
Last month, in an innovative new strat egy to attract more FDI, India's commerce and industry ministry has decided to set up a company -- Invest India. At a press conference on September 9, Shri Anand Sharma, union minister of the ministry, stated the proposed company will be a joint venture between the Government of India, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and state governments.
The Indian government emphasised the proposed company will be responsible for promoting foreign investment into the country in a more focused and structured manner. A press release states: "The company will assist the government in its efforts towards projecting India as an attractive investment destination for foreign investors and facilitating them in identifying and realising investment opportunities in India."
The management structure of the proposed company will comprise a board of directors with six members each from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and FICCI. The DIPP secretary will be its non-executive chairman. The board of directors will appoint a managing director and FICCI will provide administrative, personnel and management support for day to day functioning of the proposed company.
What really stands out is the equity shareholding: FICCI will have 51 percent share and DIPP will have 49 percent. DIPP's share will reduce overtime to 35 percent of paid-up capital with induction of fresh equity by the state governments.
Sharma said: "The unique feature of this company is the partnership between the private sector organisation, the government and the state government(s). This is unlike anywhere else in the world and seeks both to leverage the synergies of all three as well as address their investment priorities."
Among other things, Invest India will act as the first reference point for any investor interested in India and will also facilitate setting up business within the country, by making available sector wise consultants and coordinating with the state government on feasible measures. It will conduct capacity building exercises at the state government level to create an investor friendly environment. It will also undertake promotional work by expanding investor awareness beyond the metros. T he company will assist DIPP and other ministries and departments in investment promotion projects or events and any other activity within the ambit of investment promotion.
What strikes me as impressive about this initiative is that India received just $3.52 billion of FDI in July 2009 alone but they are still searching new innovative ways to catch up on China in attracting FDI, especially after the shocks of the Global Financial Crisis of2008.
Even before this, the “Incredible India" campaign was spectacularly successful. India dominated the Davos World Economic Forum meetings ever since 2006, when several companies bandied together to launch a marketing assault that included handing out iPods to all delegates, flying in the country’s best chefs and plastering "India Everywhere" posters around the Swiss mountain town.
The logic of applying this strategy to Bangladesh is compelling. Surely leading industrialists should be the most effective promoters of their sectors, knowing not only the broad profiles but also specific investment and joint venture opportunities.
Another major function for our Board of Investment (Bol) is investment facilitation and again on this front, FBCCI should also be a natural joint venture partner.
Surely entrepreneurs know best what regulatory and other government impedi-
ments need reforming to make foreign investment easier. Yes the FBCCI president currently sits on the BOI board, but that is not going nearly far enough.
The India Invest concept applies that on a much broader level empowering the private sector to take equal responsibility with the government in promoting the country to foreign investors as well as investor facilitation to ensure they have a positive and profitable experience once they actually invest.
A few words of caution that we need to address - the need to build capacity not only in the BOI but also FBCCI itself. I had the privilege of sitting next to FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra when he accompanied the 53-company FICCI delegation to Dhaka in August. He mentioned that FICCI on its own has 200 full time econ-omists/research staff out of a professional staff of 400. By contrast, both the FBCCI's and the BOI's research capacity is woefully limited.
In discussing this, an oft-heard response is - “Ifty you cannot compare India and Bangladesh” or “we are tiny and they are a new economic superpower". But we simply cannot accept such excuses.
Bangladesh's GDP is around $90 billion this year and will reach $100 billion next year. So we have one twelfth of India's GDP and one eighth of their population. So we should at a minimum aim to have FBCCI and Bol equipped with a 20-person research staff.
None of us should accept that
Bangladesh has any less potential than India. No-one could have imagined in 1992 when India was almost bankrupt as a nation and going to the IM F for emergency funding that it would have more $ 300 billion of reserves and be one of Asia's powerhouses 19 years later. Bangladesh should be similarly ambitious.
Coming back to a game plan, why not develop the capacity of Bol and FBCCI jointly under a similar initiative to the “India Invest”. We can set up a newly incorporated investment promotion company jointly driven by the public and private sectors. A number of proposals to restructure and strengthen BOI are on the table to be considered by the cabinet.
Why not expand the focus to include a joint initiative with FBCCI. This could also include joint Brand Bangladesh Road shows in key investment centres over the coming year.
PPP has become a buzz phrase in 2009. But PPP in investment promotion has perhaps the largest potential to make a difference to our economy. We have a new Bol chairman who is an extremely experienced civil servant who has been given the rank of minister -- an encouraging sign of the importance the government gives to Bol. Supporting a similar initiative to “Invest India" for Bangladesh should be something he might consider to reinvigorate Bangladesh's FDI strategy.
The writer is the managing partner of AT Capital and can be reached at ifty.islam@at-caprtal.com