& 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

Growth momentum hinges on foreign investments

Senior Citi official speaks on Bangladesh economy and its challenges

Soh el Parvez
Bangladesh needs to attract investment from abroad and develop its human capital base if it wants to sustain the growth momentum, an international banker said.
The country's economy increased two and a half times in size since the beginning of the millennium and still enjoys 6 percent-plus growth, Stephen Bird, chief executive of Asia Pacific for Citi, told The Daily Star in a recent interview.
"Bangladesh has got the capacity to continue to grow, but to be able to grow at 5-6 percent sustainably it will need to continue to attract investments and develop the people of the economy."
Bird, who supervises Citi's operations in 17 markets in Asia and the Pacific, was in the capital last week to attend the eighth Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards and inaugurate the bank's new corporate office.
He said the country has some specific challenges to address, particularly that of infrastructure, while calling for long-term planning and further investment. "We want to play a part in that," he added.
The 201-year-old American bank entered Bangladesh in 1987 and now runs four branches employing a staff of 180.
The bank has been involved in some of the landmark transactions of the country, such as the world's first AAA-rated microcredit securitisation transaction of $180 million for BRAC, leading the issuance of the largest local currency bond of $102 million equivalent for Orascom Telecom and underwriting Grameenphone's public offering
to raise $141 million.
Bird is particularly upbeat about the contribution of microcredit and the establishment of small businesses based on seed capital extended by microfinance institutions.
"That aggregation of small businesses creates stability, stabilising incremental growth and makes the country less susceptible to global macro issues."
On Asia, from where the bank accrues close to a third of its global profits, Bird says the region will continue to grow faster than the developed world, driven by globalisation, urbanisation and digitisation.
Home to more than half of the world's population, the region generated over $15 billion in revenues last year for Citi.
"The LIS was the great emerging market in the 20th century and now it is Asia's century," he said, adding that the region has more middle-class consumers emerging than anywhere else in the world.
The Citi Asia-Pacific head believes the region's current volatility, especially in the currencies of India and Indonesia, will pass and fundamentals will prevail.
"The path from fledgling to emerging to advanced economy is not a straight line. A key component is consistency of governance and building up credibility with a long term policy framework that gives investors a degree of confidence. "
The banker emphasised the need for investment in technology, a move which has allowed
Citi to better serve its global network of clients.
"It is also important to first listen to clients, understand their challenges and needs and then present the appropriate solutions. That is why we invest so much time on training and development and hiring the right people."
Risk management skills are increasingly becoming a competitive advantage, he said, adding that the bank completely overhauled its risk management systems following the global financial crisis of 2008.
Bird went on to commend the new regulations which emerged in the aftermath of the crisis, saying they made the banking industry "more sophisticated and transparent".