PM offers separate economic zone for British investors

Offering the British investors a special economic zone in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday sought large-scale investments from them for mutual benefits.

“We have been attaching the highest priority to foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh. For that, we have been establishing 100 economic zones, high-tech parks, and incubation centres across the country,” she said.

If the British investors want, Bangladesh will allocate a separate economic zone for them, as “we have given land for establishing separate economic zones for some other countries," she said.

She said this when a British cross-party parliamentary delegation—led by Vice Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Bangladesh and Chair of APPG on Indo-British, Virendra Sharma, MP—paid a courtesy call on her at her official Ganabhaban residence in Dhaka.

PM’s speech writer M Nazrul Islam briefed newsmen after the meeting.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh is well connected to Southeast Asia and South Asia, which have a market of 3.0 billion people due to their geographical location.

“So, the investor will face no trouble finding markets for their produced goods,” she said.

She continued that her government has been putting everything online to cut the procedural time to invest in Bangladesh.

“The government has already put some 110 items online out of 170. The rest of the 60 items will be put online very soon,” she said.

The British MPs pledged to work closely to take forward the development initiatives of the government for the socioeconomic advancement of Bangladesh and its people.

The five-member parliamentary delegation includes Paul Scully, MP, former Conservative Minister for Tech and Digital Economy; Neil Coyle, MP, Member of the UK House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Andrew Western, MP, Opposition Whip at the House of Commons; and Dominic Moffitt, Senior Parliamentary Assistant at the House of Commons.

The delegation that arrived in Dhaka on January 27 is scheduled to depart for London on January 31.

PM’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman, Ambassador-at-Large M Ziauddin and Prime Minister’s Office Secretary M Salauddin, were present.