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BANGLADESH HIGH COMMISSION, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM |
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Bangladesh Constitution
Students Registration Form |
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TRADE AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION
1. Recent Political Developments 3. Bangladesh UK Economic Relationship 6. Major Trade and Investment Promotion Agencies 9. Incentives to Export-Oriented and Export-Linkage Industries 10. Incentives at Export Processing Zones (EPZ) 11. Foreign Investment Policy and Regulations
12.
Doing Business in Bangladesh 13. Competitive Sector for Investment in Bangladesh 14. Incentives to Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) 15. Bangladesh UK Aid & Development 16. Remittance
Recent Political Developments: The general election which was scheduled in January 2007 was cancelled amidst widespread violence and on 11 January, the President declared a State of Emergency. On 12 January 2007, Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed sworn in as the new Chief Adviser of a reconstituted Caretaker Government. Government has already announced a roadmap to hold a free, fare and credible general elections by the end of 2008. Present Caretaker Government has initiated bold steps to stamp out corruption and to create a level playing field for best practices in governance and business. Reforms in electoral process, Election Commission, Anti-corruption Commission, public services, police and other social and economic sectors have already been initiated. Basic Economic Facts (F/Y 2006-07)
GDP Growth : 6.5% GDP per capita : US$ 520 Distribution of GDP : Agriculture : 21.1% Industry : 29.8% Service : 49.1% Inflation (CPI) : 8.1% (F/Y 2006-07) Total Export :US$ 12.74 b Total Import : US$ 15.50 b Current Account Balance : US$ 952 million (as on 30th June) Total FDI : US$ 760 m Foreign Exchange Reserve : US$ 5.5 billion (as on 31st December 2007)
Major industries: Readymade Garments (woven and knitwear), textile, pharmaceuticals, frozen seafood, jute goods and leather.
Major Trading commodities Export: garments, home textile, jute and jute goods, leather and leather products, frozen food (fish and shrimp). Import: machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement.
Major trading partners: Export: USA, Germany, UK, France, Canada,Italy. Import: China, India, Kuwait, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia.
Exchange rate: Floating.
Basic indicators which characterises trade and investment co-operation between Bangladesh and UK are:
1. UK is the third largest export destination of Bangladeshi product after US and Germany. Total Bangladesh export to UK trade in last fiscal year was US$ 1275m and import from UK was US$ 250m 2. UK is the top source of FDI for Bangladesh. Last years FDI figure was US$ 152.2 million out of around US$700million registered with BOI. 3. UK is the third largest source of remittance next to Saudi Arabia and USA. Total remittance from UK to Bangladesh in last fiscal year was US$ 887 million which is around 15% of total remittance received in Bangladesh.
The High Commission remains focussed to further improve the growing trend of economic co-operation between our two countries.
The trade relationship between Bangladesh and UK has strengthened in last couple of years. Total export to UK from Bangladesh reached US$ 1275 million in 2006-2007 which is more than 10% of our total export earning. Total export from Bangladesh to UK for the year 2006-07 recorded a 12.5% growth over the previous year. Although UK-Bangladesh trade statistics are encouraging in terms of volume and growth but is worrying that 75% of our total exports to UK are readymade garment, which enjoys duty free access. Moreover with the withdrawal of restrictions on Chinese export of textiles to EU from 1st January 2008, it might be difficult to sustain this growth and achieve export target unless the export basket is diversified.
Factors contributing the growth of export from Bangladesh to UK are: · Competitive edge in quality and price · Duty free access under EBA (Everything But Arms) . Restrictions on import from China · Increasing compliance (speciall in the RMG sector) with standards · Strong backward linkage in knitwear · High Commission’s initiatives
UK Bangladesh Trade Statistics (in million US$)
Bangladesh UK Investment:
The Bangladesh Government continues its endeavour to attract foreign investment. Total foreign direct investment to Bangladesh till 2006 stood at US$ 4,133 million. Foreign investment is encouraged in almost all industrial activities excluding those in the list of “Reserved Industries” such as arms and ammunitions, production of nuclear energy, printing and minting currency notes etc. This investment can be either 100% foreign owned or joint ventures. UK has emerged as the largest source of FDI in the recent years with a total investment outlay of US$ 152.2 million in 2005 which is 18.08% of total FDI into Bangladesh.
Foreign Investment proposals of UK registered with BOI during the period 1971 to June 2007
As of June 2007 a total of 190 units of projects with total investment outlay of US$ 2,150 million were registered with BOI. Regrettably out of this only 93 units have so far gone into production where total investment is US$ 708 million. The sectorwise distribution of foreign investment proposals further shows it is heavily concentrated in the service sector such as oil and gas exploration, coal, telecom etc., which is about 72%.
Sectorwise distribution of proposals from UK registerd with BOI that investments are heavily concentrated in the service sector which is basically banking, gas exploration, coal mining, telecommunication etc. are:
q Pre-investment information and counselling q Special welcome service to foreign investor q Investment implementation and commercial operation
Bangladesh offers an unique investment climate compared to the other South Asian economies.
q Geographic location of the country is ideal for global trade with very convenient access to international sea and air route. q Hardworking and low-cost labour force suitable for any labour-intensive industry. q&nb | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bangladesh,
which emerged as an independent nation in 1971, is a developing economy of
South Asia. With a population of 140 million the country is striving to
achieve a steady growth, reduce widespread poverty and sustain
macroeconomic stability. The economy is in transition from a public sector
dominated economy to a private sector led economy. International trade and
foreign investment is considered to be vital in its endeavour to become a
robust economy in South Asia. The ready made garments (woven and knitwear)
industry is responsible for nearly 75% of the country’s export revenues.
Other sectors such as frozen food, leather, ceramics, pharmaceuticals and
software development are growing and contributing positively to
Bangladesh’s economy. Foreign investment, including from the UK, has
filtered into Bangladesh in many sectors. The economy’s biggest asset is
its plentiful supply of very cheap labour, a major attraction for foreign
investors. The country's other endowments include its vast skilled and
semi-skilled human resource base, fertile agricultural land, and
substantial reserves of natural gas and coal. 
