Special Correspondent //

A four-day investment summit was held in Bangladesh. The summit was organized by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA).

On Sunday, BIDA Executive Chairman Ashiq Chowdhury highlighted the highlights of the four days in a post on his verified Facebook page. He made a long post around 6:30 pm.

Here is his post in full for the readers:

‘The four-day investment summit has ended. It was not a perfect score in all areas.

We are very sorry if anyone is disappointed. We have tried our best for three months to organize a summit of global standards. Of course, the government was not the only organizer of this summit. The media community, private sector, embassies, foreign partners, political parties, and other government agencies all actively participated. Thank you very much to everyone.

All the good, all the credit goes to everyone. The failures are ours. We will try to do better in the future, InshaAllah.

We are very optimistic about the response we have received. We should organize something like this every year. Let me say something relevant here. Many have questioned the political approval and continuity of the summit. Look, investment and employment are the common agenda of all those who will come to Parliament next time. I have said before, how to create an investment-friendly environment, the summit, etc. have been discussed at the highest level of all major parties. Special thanks for their clear support and participation in the summit.

Was the summit successful or has the objective of the summit been achieved? You will answer this question. The market will. Time will. At this moment, we can try to measure the success of the summit in two ways. Statistically or by numbers:

Total participation: A total of 710 people were present at the opening ceremony. 415 were foreigners or expatriate Bangladeshis. The rest were domestic businessmen or government secretaries or above. In addition, more than 3,500 people participated in the breakout sessions. Apart from this, many people have come to the Intercontinental Hotel to meet investors in the corridors over the past few days.

Total panelists: 130

Official bilateral meetings: 150. Trade Advisor, Special Envoy, Bangladesh Bank Governor, NBR Chairman, many others were at the venue throughout the day.

MOU signing: 6. Some immediate (such as ILO) some long-term (such as Artemis).

Investment announcement: Handa Group and Shop Up together totaling 3100 crore taka.

Expenditure on the summit by the Bangladesh government: 1 crore 45 lakh taka. We received another 3.5 crore taka from partner organizations.

Apart from these, I would like to share two qualitative points:

1. Foreigners’ perception of Bangladesh: We have said before that billion-dollar investments do not come in a day. No one writes a check for 100 crore taka in a hurry after coming to the summit and getting emotional. Those who work in this industry know this. But if Bangladesh is left off the menu in the first step due to negative perceptions, then we have lost before the game even begins. The perception that is created about us when you search Google abroad is much more negative than reality. Many people have many misconceptions. For example, our ranking is still 167 in the World Bank’s Business Friendliness Index. First, this ranking is from 2021. Second, the World Bank itself has discontinued it due to many mistakes found in the ranking process. Many people still refer to it. In fact, our country has both positive and negative sides. This is the case for all countries in the world. Will we stop marketing Bangladesh because of that sadness? I will tell investors, brother, there is no need to come for now, let us fix everything first please? I don’t think so. One of the primary responsibilities of a bidder is to promote the country. We have to solve the issues, improve the investment environment and continue to promote the country at the same time. We have to tell future investors why Bangladesh 2.0 is different from the previous one and what initiatives we have taken to reach our goal. Whoever comes to Bangladesh for the first time at this summit will take at least a year to invest. Our aim was to create a pipeline of potential investments. We will track them. We will try to help them. We will try to convince them. Many will not come. But if 4,000 people are employed in our four-day run and foreigners’ perceptions of Bangladesh change even a little, then there will be no end to our joy.

2. Self-confidence of the people of the country: Barack Obama has a book: The Audacity of Hope. If we give our countrymen a little opportunity, if we give them encouragement and if we inject a little positivity, they will take our country to unique heights. They will not think of leaving the country but will think of building the country. We have tried to bring a positive momentum through this summit. Based on this idea, the days of the summit were divided into three parts:

On the 7th-8th, the real picture of the investment system was presented by taking investors to EPZs and economic zones. A separate session was held for startups. On the morning of the 9th, future plans for developing the investment system and our ambitions were shared. In the evening, we were introduced to our century-old culture. The remaining time of the 9th-10th was given to networking with industry experts, government, political parties, media, local businesses and foreign investors. And various agreements have been signed throughout the time.

Finally, on the occasion of the summit, we designed a thematic map of Bangladesh; keeping industrialization and national identity in mind. I shared it for everyone to use. The link to the good resolution file is in the comments. Copyright of the bidder. That means copyright of all of you. Use it wherever you want. My presentation is the same. Use it wherever you want, as you see fit. There has been a lot of talk about the presentation on social media.

I would like to say a little, many people have worked hard behind the presentation. They are all craftsmen of it. Many people have praised me a lot on social media and expressed their love to me. Thank you very much for that. I am just doing my basic job. This is just the first step of the investment summit process. I do not expect to get any special praise for it. Please hold us accountable for whether the work is being done within the committed time. And the presentation is not the middle man in this summit. The middle ground is the spontaneous participation of investors and our entrepreneurs. Thank you to all of them.

PS 1: Please take information about the summit from verified sources. Don’t fall victim to misinformation. Ask us. We will try to answer.

PS 2: This summit would not have been possible without our partners: CA press wing, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, World Bank, UNDP, European Union, Dutch Embassy, ​​FICCI, BGMEA, Citi, HSBC, Lightcastle Partners, Inspira, Sajida Foundation, EBL, IMS and High Voltage.