Bangladesh is the world’s 32nd largest economy with a GDP of US$ 687.14 billion based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
An attractive investment climate and a higher return on investment has fuelled a 22.52% hike in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in to Bangladesh to US$ 2.45 billion in the 2016-17 financial year, up from US$2 billion in 2015-16, according to the country’s Central Bank.
The Bangladesh economy will grow by 8.25% in the current fiscal year according to Bangladesh Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. “We expect that the GDP growth rate will exceed the target of 7.8 % and will increase to 9% in the next five years,” he told a recent press conference in Dhaka.
With Gross Domestic (GDP) of US$ 687.14 billion on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) basis, Bangladesh is the world’s 32nd largest economy, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), almost similar size of the economy of the UAE – the 33rd largest in the world with US$ 686.83 billion GDP on a PPP basis.
“Bangladesh is undergoing a transformation from a low-income to a middle-income economy. The South Asian country continues to generate strong growth — projected at around 7% for 2018 — driven by consumer spending and investment,” IMF said in a report in June 2018.
Muhammad Imran, Bangladesh Ambassador to the UAE, said, “We have witnessed a growing interest among both Emirati businesses to invest in Bangladesh while a large number of Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are also setting up companies in the UAE, therefore strengthening the two-way economic ties between the two countries.”
He was speaking at the recent inaugural Bangladesh Economic Forum in Dubai, attended by more than 200 delegates, investors, businessmen, bankers and investment advisers, organised by the Panasian Group.
The Bangladesh Government has announced the establishment of 100 economic zones, where foreigners, where Emirati businesses could invest in 100% foreign-owned export-orient industries and benefit from lower cost of licensing, land and production and benefit from higher margins and duty-free export quota access to a number of countries in the world, according to the Ambassador.
