FICCI President Rupali Chowdhury says implementation matters more than new policies
18 MIN(s) ago
Jagaran Chakma
Rupali Chowdhury
Despite its large market and young workforce, Bangladesh trails regional peers in attracting foreign direct investment due to policy uncertainty, weak logistics and unreliable energy, according to Rupali Chowdhury, president of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).Foreign investors increasingly compare Bangladesh with competitors such as Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Pakistan, where projects move faster, and government services are more predictable, she said in an interview with The Daily Star.“Investors do not compare Bangladesh with its own past. They compare us with competing destinations,” Rupali said.Her remarks came as FICCI launched its report, FDI for a New Bangladesh: Roadmap for a $15 Billion Vision, which argues that Bangladesh continues to lag behind its regional peers in attracting investment despite decades of economic growth.The report shows Bangladesh’s FDI-to-GDP ratio stood at just 0.29 percent in 2024, compared with 4.23 percent in Vietnam, 1.74 percent in Indonesia and 0.72 percent in Pakistan. It identifies policy uncertainty, logistics bottlenecks, infrastructure shortages, financial sector weaknesses, tax complexity and weak investor protection as the main barriers to investment.Rupali said logistics remains one of Bangladesh’s biggest competitive disadvantages.
