Staff Reporter: Several political parties of the country have agreed to provide full support to the activities and reform initiatives of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) for creating an investment friendly environment in the country.

The political parties urged the BIDA authorities to give special importance to domestic investors as well as foreign investors.

They made the call today when BIDA was exchanging views with major political parties regarding policy consistency, ongoing reform initiatives, and recent progress toward ensuring a sustainable investment environment in Bangladesh.

The meeting was held at the BIDA conference room in the city with the participation of representatives from 16 political parties to share their insights and suggestions for enhancing the country's investment ecosystem.

The parties are Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Liberal Democratic Party, Gonosonhoti Andolon, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Amar Bangladesh Party, Nagorik Oikya, Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Communist Party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Islami Front, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BASD) and Islamic Front Bangladesh were present.

BIDA Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun presided over the meeting.

He said that investment and employment are the national interests of Bangladesh and it is above party or political interests.

Noting that BIDA is continuously working to create a conducive environment for investment in Bangladesh, Ashik Chowdhury said, “There are various crises in the field of investment in our country.

We look forward to fruitful discussions with you on what we are doing now to overcome these crises and what we will do in the next six to eight months.”

BIDA Head of Business Development Nahian Rahman Rochi gave a presentation on BIDA’s activities at the meeting.

He briefly discussed the reform plan and progress report and the responses of the Investment Conference.

He said that based on discussions with more than 200 local investors and stakeholders, BIDA has identified five problems for investment in Bangladesh.

These are Quality of Government Services, Policy Continuity, Industry Consultation, Eliminating Corruption, and Access to Resources.

At the meeting, each political party applauded the BIDA Chairman and authorities for organizing such an event.

In addition, the political parties suggested that the BIDA authorities discuss with the relevant ministries and departments to develop skilled workers in the country, develop infrastructure, remove legal complications, protect the interests of workers and make environmentally friendly investments.

In today's meeting, the political parties called for giving top priority to protecting the country's sovereignty, regional security and national interests.

Thanking everyone for their suggestions and support, BIDA Executive Chairman Ashik Chowdhury said in his closing speech, “In our next presentation, the reform plan will be presented separately on local investors.”

He also said, “We want to assure you that no decision will be taken outside the national interest. Chittagong Port is the port of our entire Bangladesh. We want to transform it into a world-class port, but first of all, national interests and regional security must be ensured. There will be no compromise on this issue.”

He expressed hope that such positive discussions with political parties will continue on a regular basis.