Foreign investors have started exploring investment potentials in the country following the recent improvement in political situation. China recently expressed its desire to invest US$ 15 million in the composite textile sector in Bangladesh. An eight-member Chinese business delegation on April 16 met the Board of investment (BoI) to discuss investment in the country.

The Chinese team, led by Cui Jian Gui, general manager of JSTEX group, has discussed with the BoI about requirement of the country’s investment and other related issues. The JSTEX group, run by the Chinese government, has expanded its network of textile trading section to the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia, France and Hong Kong. The company is involved in export, import and real estate businesses. The team also showed its interest to establish power plants in the country. The BoI sources said the Chinese investors are interested to invest in production of four-stroke engine.

Ecorntech Inc., a well known US-based green technology developer, recently placed a US$ 2.755 billion investment plan, largely for low cost housing project, to the BoI. A German team also expressed its desire to invest in the infrastructures like building fly-over, bridges, sea and land ports, and in pharmaceuticals and ceramic industries. Besides, a number of foreign investment proposals worth $10.5 billion is at the stage of negotiation and awaits final approval of the government, BoI sources said.

The BoI estimates the FDI flow at around US$ 700 million in 2006 against the target of $ 1.0 billion. In a strategy to add an impetus to the FDI, the BoI set FDI targets of $ 1.0 billion for 2007, $1.2 billion for 2008, $1.4 billion for 2009, $1.6 billion for 2010 and $2.6 billion for 2015. According to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) statistics, the country attracted $845 million worth of FDI in calendar 2005, $460 million in 2004, $350 million in 2003 and $328 million in 2002.