The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) organized an exchange of views with political parties on Tuesday (May 13, 2025) to receive suggestions and recommendations from the country’s leading political parties on policy continuity, ongoing reform activities and recent progress to ensure a sustainable investment environment in Bangladesh.
The meeting was held at the conference hall of BIDA’s head office in Agargaon in the capital. Representatives of 17 political parties participated in it. The meeting was presided over by Chowdhury Ashiq Bin Harun, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA).
In his opening remarks, Ashiq Chowdhury said, “Investment and employment are the national interests of Bangladesh, above party or political interests.”
Stating that BIDA is continuously working to create a conducive environment for investment in Bangladesh, Ashiq 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 Rachi gave a presentation on BIDA’s activities at the meeting. He briefly discussed the Reform Plan and Progress Report, the response to the Investment Conference, and the next steps.
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.
The political parties were informed about the steps BIDA has already taken to resolve these problems and what steps it plans to take in the long term, and their opinions were sought.
In the meeting, each political party applauded the BIDA Chairman and the authorities for organizing such an event. They praised the BIDA reform plan and progress and expressed their full support for BIDA’s activities in creating an investment environment in the country.
The political parties urged the BIDA authorities to give special importance to foreign investors as well as domestic investors.
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 Ashiq Chowdhury said in his closing speech, “In our next presentation, the reform plan will be presented separately for 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. No compromise will be made on this issue.’
He expressed hope that such positive discussions with political parties will continue on a regular basis.
Representatives of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiya Nagorik Party, Liberal Democratic Party (NDM), Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), Gana Sanghati Andolan, Gana Adhikar Parishad, Amar Bangladesh Party, Nagorik Oikya, Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Communist Party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Islamic Front, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSAD), Islamic Front Bangladesh participated in today’s meeting.
