Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) Executive Chairman Ashik Chowdhury has outlined a joint 180-day action plan for Bangladesh’s four key investment promotion agencies, focused on delivering core improvements to the business climate for both local and foreign investors.
The three-pillar plan for Bida, Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza), the Maheshkhali Integrated Development Authority (Mida), and the Public-Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) was presented to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman during a meeting yesterday, said a press release.
“Our plan is centered on building an investment-led economy, accelerating employment creation, and increasing the level of domestic and foreign investment in Bangladesh through focused, implementation-driven reforms,” said Ashik Chowdhury.
“Amid global uncertainty, our priority at this stage is to support and accelerate investment by local investors. We will, of course, continue to support foreign investors, but our immediate growth strategy is centered on helping local investors do more and enabling those already operating in Bangladesh to expand,” he added.
The 180-day roadmap is built around 25 key initiatives organised under three pillars. Robust Infrastructure leads with 13 initiatives (50%) aimed at improving logistics and investment enablers.
Investment Facilitation follows with seven initiatives (30%) focused on enhancing investor support and service quality. Finally, Investment Development includes five initiatives (20%) designed to drive targeted investments and support sector-specific growth.
Under Robust Infrastructure, priorities include advancing port modernisation, implementation of Chinese Economic Zone; expanding ready-to-use industrial park plots; progressing the Free Trade Zone and Defence Economic Zone; revitalizing state-owned enterprises through PPP, foreign investments and Economic Zone conversion; and advancing energy initiatives and exploring alternative options.
Under Investment Facilitation, the focus is on institutional reform and investor servicing — including the unification of investment promotion agencies Bida, Beza, Bepza, BHTPA and PPPA; progress on the Bangladesh–South Korea FTA; launch of a private sector advisory council to be headed by the prime minister; stronger inter-ministerial coordination; rollout of BanglaBiz as a single-window platform; targeted resolution of issues faced by major investors; and the launch of Bida’s first overseas office in China.
Under Investment Development, the plan prioritises country-wide industry mapping, FDI pipeline building in targeted sectors (agribusiness, pharma, leather, textile and IT) from priority countries, blue economy initiatives including deep-sea fishing, mariculture and export-oriented shrimp processing, and the introduction of FDI incentive scheme, reads the media release.