Investors want to see positive change

If economic growth and creation of jobs for close to the projected 4.0 million unemployed people in Bangladesh in 2025  are to be the primary concern for the policymakers, then the recently held investors' summit in Dhaka bears special significance. That is not to say that the presence of between 400 and 450 prospective overseas investors at the investment summit organised by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) would automatically translate into an investment bonanza in the country. Many such investment summits took place in the past, but few overseas business houses finally came forward to risk their money in business ventures here. In fact, holding of investment summits has become a kind of ritual where representatives of foreign companies participate and the events end with big hopes from the government leaders but nothing happens next. Was the just ended business summit like one of such events in the past? Though it is too early to draw any conclusion, there are certain features of the recently-held investment summit that make a difference from the past. It is that the summit took place after a bloody uprising followed by a political change in the country.

More importantly, the post-uprising government is being headed by Dr Muhammad Yunus, who, apart from being a Nobel Peace laureate, is well-known globally for his novel ideas of social change including micro-credit and social business. Obviously, he was a pull factor drawing many of the global business leaders to the event. They definitely wanted to see if under his leadership there is any prospect of positive change in the notoriously complicated and corrupt bureaucracy that is the number one hurdle before any foreign business willing to invest in Bangladesh. But bureaucrats cannot also be singled out as the sole agency of corruption, since the politicians who controlled state power were not angels either. To be fair, the responsibility for the original sin lies with the politicians, for it is they who first lure the government officials into committing corruption. However, once the rot sets in over the years, it becomes hard to say who first led the other up the garden path. But that is again the old, proverbial chicken and egg situation. But if one is to go into the political history of the country during  the last one and a half decades, it was an era of violent and frenzied plundering of a nation by its politicians who spared none in their sights to become complicit in their crime, let alone the servants of the state. So, well-meaning foreign investors who had been watching the rampant looting of a nation by its own political class from a distance all these years, were obviously more eager to see how the interim government that assumed power following the changeover   was faring in bringing the country back from the brink.   

 Evidently, the foreign investors were keen to see that some  meaningful change was indeed taking place in the system of governance in the country.  Definitely, the  ongoing reforms in the different sectors of the economy and governance  drew their attention. Though some four busy days that they had in hand was hardly enough to reach any conclusion, they could at least  get the hang of it. The interim government with its limited mandate, is facing an enormous challenge to get the system back on track, so the country's international development partners as well as the investors both domestic and foreign can first regain their confidence in the system and  then take decision about making any investment in the economy. In this connection, one should not be surprised to see that few business houses of global as well as regional repute did  instantly commit any major investment. In fact, they would like to see a stable political government in office that is committed to all the reform initiatives undertaken by the incumbent interim government. In that case, one would like to believe that the way the reform measures and other positive initiatives undertaken by the interim government have gained traction in public perception, it would be hard for any future elected government to reverse the trend. Nevertheless, there should be no room for complacency either.

Since the incumbent interim government  did not take office out of the existing political party's generosity, there is no reason why it should dither from taking any hard decision about reforms. Even, the political parties would admit in private that they are often so beholden to the narrow  interests of their electorates, let alone the vested quarters,  that they cannot take hard decisions, even if they wished so. So, those in charge of the incumbent interim government need to understand the felt-need of the masses including politicians, despite what the latter might from time to time say in public, go ahead with the agenda of reform and other changes of radical nature where necessary without hesitation. Since they are not here for eternity, it is important that they have a list of priority so the urgent tasks are performed first. Those obviously include bringing stability in the macroeconomy which means keeping inflation under control, ensuring  economic growth by way of employment generation  both through public sector spending as well as creating the enabling conditions for the private sector to invest. To this end, facilities like easy credit for the domestic entrepreneurs and ensuring  the businesses' access to the state's services with least bureaucracy are  the preconditions. In a similar vein, efforts should be on to gradually make the economic activities in the informal sector visible through helping those gain access to the state's resources while at the same time widening the scope of the revenue authority to include them under its net.  These measures are a precondition for constant and sustainable economic growth.  The fact that inflation, a constant source of headache for both the policymakers and the public, was in the single digit at 9.32 per cent (point-to-point) in February last marking a significant decline in one month from what it was in January last at 9.94 per cent. Arguably it provides a cause for optimism as well as caution. It is believed, when the policymakers and the government officials stop abusing their power to serve theirs or someone else's personal end, things begin to change for the better. The interim government should continue the good work.

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