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Change Your Life! |
Japan eager to invest more |
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News |
June 13, 2000
Dhaka, June 12 (UNB)- A Japanese bureaucrat in Dhaka said constant persuasion of potential entrepreneurs, not mere incentives, could net more foreign investments in Bangladesh.
“Good incentive doesn’t mean investment will automatically come. Bangladesh should try to persuade potential foreign investors by activity, not just waiting in the working room,” Minister of Japanese Embassy in Dhaka Shigeharu Maruyama told UNB in an exclusive interview.
He saw political unrest, image problem, inadequate infrastructure-mainly power interruption, bureaucracy and corruption--as factors that hinder growth of foreign investments, including from Japan.
“Political instability is one of the talking points of Japanese investors here,” he said, citing that there were 47 days of hartal in the port city of Chittagong last year.
Same concerns were echoed in the investment conference held in Tokyo June 8-9 organized by Japan-Bangladesh Joint Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation (JBJCCEC). It cited frequent shutdowns and red tap among the problems facing the Japanese investors in Bangladesh.
He however noted with satisfaction that law-and-order situation, often pointed out also as an impediment to foreign investment, “is better than what was three years ago.”
Japan’s investment figured 57.8 million US dollars as of August 1999 against 25 units, mainly in the export-processing zones.
Although Japanese business leaders in Tokyo’s investment conference did not see any failure in the Japan-aided Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company as discouraging for Japanese investors in Bangladesh, Maruyama felt KAFCO problem would have a negative impact on foreign investors.
“KAFCO is now becoming a diplomatic problem between Japan and Bangladesh,” the Japanese diplomat commented.
He also linked country image to export, but said there has been a change in Bangladesh image abroad following the country’s growing role in international arena.
He said Japan already had extended LDC-status GSP facilities to Bangladesh in trading 15 items, including garments and frozen foods that are subject to only one per cent tax.
“Tariff barrier is zero, but problem lies in quality,” the Japanese envoy said, prescribing elaborate market research to find out trends of Japanese people, who value quality.
He said Japanese market is open. “It’s up to Bangladesh’s endeavour to increase its exports to Japan, specially in garment.”
Almost all the medium and low-priced apparels on Japanese market come from China, he informed.
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