Foreign investors could explore business opportunities in Bangladesh’s road infrastructure under public private partnership as the country’s 73 percent travel takes place via roads, which are not up to the mark, said a speaker yesterday.
“Huge investment is required to upgrade roads to international standards,” said ABM Sertajur Rahman, executive engineer of the Roads and Highways Department.
Such investment opportunities in Bangladesh could be explored by businesspeople to elevate trade relations between countries of South East Asian Cooperation (Seaco) Foundation, added a top official of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida).
There is a good opportunity for investment in IT, tourism, renewable energy, agriculture and shipbuilding sectors, said Md Serazul Islam, Bida executive chairman.
“The investors of Seaco have a good opportunity for making big investments as Bangladesh is providing an investment-friendly environment and investment protection, including different incentives,” he said.
The suggestions came at a business-to-business session on the concluding day of a two-day roundtable on “Regional collaboration: transforming economies” organised by World Islamic Economic Forum (Wief) Foundation and Seaco Foundation in Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden.
Rahamat Ullah Mohd Dastagir, additional secretary to power division, said they were ready to provide express connections to industries for quality and uninterrupted power. He said scarcity of power had been eliminated in Bangladesh as generation capacity was higher compare to demand, reaching 12,893 megawatts (MW) as of September whereas it was only 3,266 MW in the corresponding month of 2009.
Power generation has increased around threefold in the past 10 years, he said, adding that the generation capacity would increase to 24,000 MW by 2021, 40,000 MW by 2030 and 60,000 MW by 2041.
He said of that generated, 46 percent came from private sector power plants and the rest from the public sector.
“Hundred percent area of the country will come under electricity coverage by 2020 as necessary transmission lines are being laid across the country,” said Dastagir, adding that already 95 percent of the area has been brought under coverage.
Addressing the programme, Salahuddin Kasem Khan, executive chairman of Seaco Foundation, highlighted investment facilities of Bangladesh.
Md Zafar Alam, member (administration and planning) of Chittagong Port Authority, said investors could take advantage of the Chittagong port’s facilities which were now up to the mark. He said container handling capacity had increased due to adaptation of new technology as well as overall improvements in efficiency.
Alam also said the port became the 64th busiest in the world in 2018 handling 2.93 million twenty-feet equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in 2018, up from 2.66 million in 2017 and one million in 2008.
Among others, Alex Chai Su Hean, vice president (customer marketing) of insurance provider Zurich Takaful Malaysia Berhad, also spoke at the programme.
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Invest in roads under PPP models
