Summit draws Tk 3,100cr in proposals: BIDA Chairman

Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) Executive Chairman, Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, has announced that an initial investment proposal worth Tk 3,100 crore has been received following the recently concluded investment summit, noting that additional investment proposals are still in pipeline.

He made this statement during a press conference held on Sunday at Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka's Bailey Road.

According to Ashik Mahmud, Bangladesh government spent approximately Tk 1.45 crore on organizing the summit. In contrast, participating partner organizations contributed around Tk 3.5 crore, bringing the total cost of the four-day summit to roughly Tk 5 crore.

During the briefing, the BIDA chairman also revealed that the establishment processes for ten proposed economic zones have been cancelled.

He clarified that the investment summit itself should not be solely credited for all the announced investments, as many of the deals and negotiations were already underway before the summit took place. “It is not realistic to expect investors to declare investments immediately at the summit. Therefore, the event’s effectiveness should not be judged merely based on investment announcements or cost-to-return ratios,” he said.

Ashik Mahmud also disclosed that memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed with six companies during the summit. Notably, the event witnessed higher participation from foreign investors, with 415 international delegates representing 50 countries—constituting 58 percent of total attendees.

He remarked that foreign investors were enthusiastic after witnessing the investment potential and the resilience of the Bangladeshi people. “BIDA is not concerned with how the success of the summit is measured. The core objective was to present Bangladesh’s investment potential to the international community,” he said.

Addressing concerns over the recent U.S. tariff imposition, Ashik Mahmud commented that Bangladesh is not alone in facing these challenges, as many of its competing countries are in similar situations. “I am not at all worried that the policy shift by the United States came just four days before our summit. In fact, I view it as a positive signal,” he stated.

He further explained that the U.S. trade representative’s report on Bangladesh had suggested several key reforms, including regulatory adjustments, revisions in customs duties, and addressing corruption—reforms that Bangladesh already intended to implement.

Ashik Mahmud emphasized that the additional pressure from the U.S. tariff could ultimately be beneficial. “This gives us the opportunity to introduce comprehensive reforms in our investment framework, which will ease doing business in Bangladesh in the long run. I see no negative side to this development,” he said.

He added that the impact of policies like those from the Trump administration will not affect Bangladesh alone. “If global inflation or interest rate hikes occur due to such policies, all countries will face the consequences. There is no reason to believe that Bangladesh will be uniquely affected,” he said.