Bangladesh offers golden opportunity for Gulf-based Indian businesses, says Bangladesh Consul General BM Jamal Hossain, who urges NRI entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh and benefit from low cost and higher returns

Bangladesh offers a great opportunity for international investors with low cost of operation and higher return on investment and Gulf-based Non-Resident Indian (NRI) businesses are uniquely positioned to benefit from these opportunities, a senior Bangladeshi official told a conference organised by Gulf Maharashtra Business Forum (GMBF) at the India Club on Friday, June 1, 2022.

Bangladesh is undergo¬ing massive devel¬opment works, with collective investment into the top 15 projects exceeding US$80.8 billion (Dh296.5 billion) – that are at various stages of planning, de-velopment and construction. Once completed, these proj¬ects will help accelerate Bangla¬desh’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to more than 10 percent and alleviate the country’s status to a Developed Country by 2041, as envisioned by the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, through her Vision 2041.

Bangladesh, which enjoys a strong historic bilateral relation with India, offers 5 to 10-year tax holiday, duty-free import of capital machinery imports, transfer of profits and investment at any time. A good number of Indian corporates have invested in Bangladesh.

“I am pleased to announce that Bangladesh has fulfilled all the criteria to graduate to achieve the status of a middle-income country. The economy of Bangladesh, a land of opportunity, has been growing at a rate of between 6 to 7 percent consistently for the last 12 years,” BM Jamal Hossain, Bangladesh Consul General to Dubai and Northern Emirates, told GMBF members and participants at the GMBF Global Connect conference.

“We are one of the rare countries to register a positive economic growth of more than 5 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our economy continued to grow during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09 and the latest COVID-19 pandemic. This reflects that our economy is shock-proof from external and global challenges that makes it one of the most sustainable economies in the world. I welcome you to invest in Bangladesh and benefit from the great opportunities that the country offers.”

Two UAE-based and NRI-owned businesses, Danube Group and Malabar Gold and Diamonds, are expanding into Bangladesh with investment outlay of more than US$100 million this year. Danube Home is set to open its first showroom in Dhaka in August this year, while Malabar Gold and Diamonds is planning to launch a jewelry manufacturing unit and a chain of retail outlets later this year.

More than 1 million Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) live and work while more than 75,000 owns businesses in the UAE. Collectively, they remitted US$2.43 billion in 2020-2021 financial year

“Investment in Bangladesh is easy and our government has brought more than 150-types of services within a one-stop-service (OSS) platform and streamline company formation, land acquisition, environmental permits, construction permits, utility connection, etc,” he reiterated.

“We are bound by history, culture and heritage. Indian investors can benefit from lower cost of doing business, cost-effective and skilled manpower, higher return on investment and a direct market access to more than 250 million consumers – who share the same culture and ethnicity.”

Indian entrepreneurs get same-day visas to travel to Bangladesh. Indian nationals are exempted from any visa fee to enter Bangladesh.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh rose by 12.9 percent to $2.9 billion – around the pre-pandemic level – in 2021. In the same year, the number of international project finance deals in Bangladesh tripled to 14, reaching $4.7 billion.

“We offer red carpet reception to all investors and Indians get same-day visas to visit Bangladesh. Our consulate office is open to you for any assistance,” BM Jamal Hossain said.

Bangladesh is India’s fourth largest export market with Indian exports growing to US$15 billion this year, according to Kamrul Hasan, Bangladesh Commercial Counsellor. Bangladesh exports about US$2 billion worth of goods to India. Total trade between the two countries is expected to cross US$17 billion.

GMBF Global Connect is a series of networking conferences launched by GMBF Global that aims to bring business communities closer to each other and help the expand businesses into new territories. The conference held at the India Club was attended by more than 100 businessmen, entrepreneurs and professionals.

GMBF Global has been an active platform of more than 500 active business owners and professionals in UAE, Middle East and Africa and the state of Maharashtra in India. The main aim of the forum has been to facilitate business, professional growth and trade development for individuals and businesses, support startups, encouraging women entrepreneurs. Encouraging journey of individuals from Employee to Employer.

The activities of forum include hosting of regular networking meetings, learning and development seminars and mentoring new and aspiring business owners

Coinciding with monthly events GMBF have initiated Global Connect initiative wherein every month GMBF members are introduced with trade opportunities and relevant information of one country with support of that country’s UAE-based diplomatic missions.

Dr Sunil Manjarekar, President of GMBF Global, said, “This is our second series of conference, after our first conference with the United States. The whole objective is to help business communities from different countries come together and expand their businesses.

“With this event, we are able to bring our members closer to Bangladeshi business community and also help them understand the opportunities in Bangladesh – which is a friendly neighbour of India. We would like business communities belonging to different nationalities to come together with our Global Connect platform.”