Attracting Investors into Bangladesh Capital Market
At the Roadshow held in New York City, COLORS Business met Masrur Reaz, Chairman, Policy Exchange Bangladesh, asked about his thoughts on how the Road Show can motivate foreign investors into investing in the Bangladesh capital market.
Bangladesh is making tremendous progress over the past years securing triple dividends in the form of rapid poverty reduction, consistently high growth, and remarkable human development, as Masrur Reaz views it. With middle-income status and qualification from LDC status both secured, Bangladesh aspires to become a high-income country by 2041. The private sector that will continue to propel the growth is expected to transition into the next phase through greater diversification in export and manufacturing, expansion of services, and development of logistics and infrastructure. All these require the Bangladesh private sector to tap into long-term growth capital which will require the capital market to strengthen to absorb the innovative, and long-term finance need. The roadshow was a great way to let the investors and relevant capital market international stakeholders know of Bangladesh’s remarkable growth story, the growth potential, and the opportunities/demand for long-term finance.
Regarding the responsiveness of the Investment Promotion Agencies of Bangladesh, Masrur found BSEC and the other agencies to be quite proactive in facilitating congenial investment policies, both for FDI and portfolio investments, and this roadshow marks an important milestone i.e. proactive outreach to potential investors. The roadshow gave BIDA, BSEC, and other GoB agencies an opportunity to better understand the needs of the potential investors. I believe this will enable the agencies to craft their policies, investor outreach, and investor care in more effective ways.
After participating at the Summit his top three takeaways are:
- Bangladesh growth story and growth potential is now gradually being recognized by international investor circuit.
- There is a need to further deepen the momentum by systematically promoting Bangladesh’s overall achievements over the last five decades, and highlighting investment strengths and opportunities.
- Continue the outreach to and dialogue with institutional investors, and in parallel continue the investment climate and capital market reforms.
