International Investment Summit 2021, Bangladesh – Discover Limitless Opportunities

It’s a historical time for Bangladesh – the country is celebrating its 50th birthday and the United Nations just passed a resolution for its graduation towards becoming a Developing Country in 2026. However, the graduation comes with new challenges. As the country aspires to attain middle-income status by 2031 and the economy recovers from COVID-19, finding new investments and funding sources is an urgent priority.

From November 28-29, IFC supported the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) in arranging the International Investment Summit 2021 in partnership with the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to attract investors in 11 thriving sectors from various countries. The summit promoted Bangladesh as one of the most ideal and profitable investment destinations for private investments, including foreign direct investment (FDI).

In 2020, foreign direct investments fell by 11 percent to $2.6 billion, in large part because of the impacts of the pandemic. Currently, Bangladesh attracts FDI at nearly 1 percent of gross domestic product annually. Meanwhile, the government aims to reach an FDI of 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the fiscal year 2025. There’s a lot of work ahead for Bangladesh to attain its development goals.

Speaking at the summit alongside the Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina MP, IFC’s Regional Vice President of Asia and Pacific Alfonso Garcia Mora said “The private sector has a pivotal role to play in Bangladesh’s sustained growth and to take it to the next stage of development. Bangladesh has enormous investment potential. Still, there is a need for reforms to strengthen and modernize the private sector, the financial sector and to mobilize large investments.”?

The summit was attended by over 6,000 participants from 54 countries in-person and virtually and drew interest from new investors in sectors such as transport and logistics, manufacturing, renewable energy and power, and IT, among others. Expert panelists from the sessions included ministers from the government of Bangladesh, policymakers, the private sector and IFC’s thought leadership. Out of the summit’s 16 sessions, eight included speakers from IFC:

The summit ended with $2.7 billion in new investment proposals for the country and key insights for the private sector to expand into new areas of investments, such as in power transmission. Bangladesh’s energy sector can build on successful private investment to increase power supply from cost-effective, clean energy sources and strengthen transmission and distribution capacity with the help of public-private partnerships.

A modern transport and logistics sector is of utmost importance for Bangladesh as it is the backbone of the manufacturing industry. Bangladesh’s infrastructure needs are estimated at over $600 billion by 2040, of which 75% is planned from the private sector, according to the Government of Bangladesh’s 8th Five-Year Plan.

Bangladesh needs more private sector participation in expanding access to high-quality, integrated health care and specialized treatment, supported by innovative technologies such as telemedicine and e-pharma. The domestic pharmaceutical market, estimated at $3 billion, is expected to surpass $6 billion by 2025.

Bangladesh is expected to be a $500 billion economy by 2026 and an $800 billion economy by 2030. Major reforms are needed for creating new opportunities for investors and the discussions at the summit will pave the way forward for policy change and private sector growth in Bangladesh. To watch all the panel discussions, visit:?

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Hector Gomez Ang, IFC’s Regional Director for South Asia said “IFC has invested in excess of $2 billion over the past five years and we plan to double our investments. We are committed to supporting market diversification beyond RMG and ensuring that Bangladesh is the next Asian Tiger.”