PM urges Wall Street firms to invest in Bangladesh

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today invited Wall Street firms to invest in Bangladesh, saying the country is “open for business” and ready to serve as a strong platform for investors seeking access to the wider regional market.

“We welcome Wall Street firms to invest in Bangladesh. And we want Bangladesh to become a strong platform, from which you can serve a much larger regional market,” he said.

“Our message is simple: Bangladesh is open for business,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a breakfast meeting with business leaders and investors hosted by JPMorgan Chase at its headquarters in Manhattan.

Tarique Rahman said his government was determined to create “confidence, predictability and the right conditions to grow” for investors, stressing that investment needs a conducive and predictable business environment.

“Before entering politics, I started my career in business. I learned a simple lesson: investment needs confidence, predictability and the right conditions to grow,” he said.

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh, with a population of more than 180 million, has a young and hardworking population, a growing market and a strategic location.

He said Bangladesh was known globally as a major manufacturing and garments base, but the country now offered significant opportunities in energy, infrastructure, logistics, technology, digital services, climate finance, manufacturing, agriculture and healthcare.

“Our ambition is to build a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2034 and position Bangladesh as a globally connected manufacturing, investment and services hub,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the government was working to make Bangladesh “easier and more predictable” for investors through deregulation, stronger investor protection, easier regulations, improved tax and VAT administration, easier profit repatriation and better infrastructure.

He also highlighted Bangladesh’s efforts to deepen economic ties with major global economies, saying the country had signed a Reciprocal Trade Agreement with the United States, reached new economic arrangements with Japan and South Korea, initiated a new partnership with the European Union and strengthened economic ties with China.

“These are important steps in connecting Bangladesh more closely with the world’s major economies,” he said.

Referring to JPMorgan’s role in Bangladesh’s inaugural sovereign bond, the Prime Minister described it as an important milestone that gave international investors a new reference point for Bangladesh and helped connect the country’s capital markets more closely with the global financial system.

Tarique Rahman said investors wanted to know whether regulations were predictable, investments were protected, capital could move efficiently and profits could be repatriated, describing these as “legitimate questions”.

“Our responsibility is to provide confidence through policy and, most importantly, through implementation,” he said, adding that Bangladesh was seeking long-term partnerships rather than short-term transactions.

“Our government’s objective is straightforward. More investment. More trade. More jobs. More technology. And a stronger economic partnership between Bangladesh and the United States,” he said.

The Prime Minister invited the investors to build long-term partnerships with Bangladesh.

“I invite you to invest with confidence and build for the long term. We are ready to work with you, listen to you and remove obstacles where we can. I hope we will see many of you soon in Bangladesh,” he said.

The breakfast meeting was held as part of the Prime Minister’s engagements in New York during his visit to attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.