The political parties should ensure the smooth functioning of export-import and the supply chain, said Dr M Mojibur Rahman, chief executive officer of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI).
“I urge all the political parties to keep goods transportation system and other supply chain management system out of political programmes like hartal and blockade for the sake of the country’s economic development,” he said.
The continuation of policy and political stability are a must for Bangladesh for its economic development, said the trade and investment expert.
He was addressing a function, ‘Launching of Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report-2013’, at the conference room of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) on Saturday. The DCCI and BFTI jointly arranged the function.
Dr Rahman laid emphasis on reducing trade cost and bank loan interest to help flourish businesses further in Bangladesh. “BFTI is working to formulate a coordinated trade policy.”
DCCI President M Sabur Khan, Bangladesh Initiative for Leading Development (BUILD) CEO Ferdous Ara Begum, DCCI Vice Presdient Nesar Maksud Khan, DCCI directors M Abu Horaira, Abdus Salam, M Shoeb Chowdhury and DCCI Executive Director M Hossain Ali took part in the event.
Sabur Khan said there is no alternative to infrastructure development for keeping the wheel of the economy moving.
He urged the government to take initiatives for attracting foreign investment and further development of the country’s SME sector.
The DCCI President also laid emphasis on enhancing regional cooperation to avail of free trade benefit.
Asia-Pacific Trade & Investment Report 2013
Developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region account for 33 percent of global foreign direct investment (FDI) in flows, reflecting the established position of the region as a leading investment destination.
FDI inflows to the East and North-East Asian sub-region were $215 billion in 2012, down 8 percent from the previous year. The decline can be attributed to weaker inflows to China, the Republic of Korea and Hong Kong, China.
China, however, continues to attract impressive levels of FDI; investments in 2012 totalled $121 billion.
Rising production costs and weakening export markets have been pushing foreign companies to relocate from China to lower-income countries, but China is still the leading FDI recipient in the developing world and is attracting investments from other developing countries as well.
In 2012, in flows to the South-East Asian sub-region amounted to $111 billion, up by 2 percent compared to the previous year, making it the only sub-region in Asia and the Pacific that continued to experience FDI growth. This growth has been supported by FDI into labour-intensive sectors and value chain activities in low-income countries such as Cambodia, the Philippines and Viet Nam.
The South-East Asian sub-region is likely to benefit from the establishment of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which aims to create a single market with free flows of goods, services, skilled labour and investments by 2015. One of the goals of AEC is to further improve connectivity in the sub-region and integrate industries in order to promote regional sourcing.
