Bangladesh offers an unparalleled investment climate compared to the other South Asian economies. Here are eight key pointers to Bangladesh's investment climate today.
- Bangladesh is a largely homogeneous society with no major internal or external tensions and a population with great resilience in the face of adversity (e.g. natural calamities).
- Bangladesh is a liberal democracy. The population of this country irrespective of race or religion have been living in harmony and understanding for thousands of years.
- Broad non-partisan political support for market oriented reform and the most investor-friendly regulatory regime in South Asia.
- Trainable, enthusiastic, hardworking and low-cost (even by regional standards) labor force suitable for any labor-intensive industry.
- The geographic location of the country is ideal for global trade, with very convenient access to international sea and air routes.
- Bangladesh is endowed with abundant supply of natural gas, water and its soil is very fertile.
- Although Bengali (Bangla) is the official language, English is generally used as a second language. The majority of the educated population can read, write and speak in English.
- As a result of low per capita GDP, present domestic consumption is not significant. However, it should always be considered that there exists a middle class with over 10% of the population. As economic growth picks up, the purchasing power will also grow substantially.
Bangladeshi products enjoy duty free and quota free access to almost all the developed countries. This access to the global market is further helped by the fact that the policy regime of Bangladesh for foreign direct investment is by far the best in South Asia. Most Bangladeshi products enjoy complete duty and quota free access to EU, Canada, Australia and Norway. Though in limited scale, Bangladesh products already found their access with lower duty in the markets of Thailand, India and Pakistan. However, talks are underway with China, Russia, Malaysia and other neighbouring countries in this regard.
Source: www.boi.gov.bd
