KSA likely to invest in BD's power, energy, tourism sectors

FT ONLINE

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is eager to invest in Bangladesh's power, energy and tourism sectors as the oil-rich country is growingly looking to diversify its investment portfolio.

During the recently-concluded Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting between the two countries, the gulf nation has also shown interest in making investment in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) of Bangladesh, a senior government official who attended the meeting said to media.

"They are interested in investing in Bangladesh's power, energy and tourism," a high official of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) said last week. "In addition, they have shown interest in investing in the SEZs," he added.

"As part of its Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is looking to diversify its economy and business portfolios across the globe. And Bangladesh's power, energy and tourism are of special interest to them," the official observed.

Saudi Arabia is traditionally the biggest source of foreign remittance for Bangladesh. Almost 3.4 million Bangladeshis have found employment in the Gulf kingdom in last three decades.

Last year alone, Bangladeshi expatriates in Saudi Arabia sent around US$ 2.325 billion as remittance to the country, according to official figure. The amount is around 17 per cent of total remittance coming into the country.

Nevertheless, the Gulf nation is yet to be a major player in Bangladesh's investment scenario. As of June 2017, the total FDI stock of Saudi Arabia in Bangladesh amounted to US$ 226.29 million, which is almost entirely concentrated in the banking and financial sector.

However, the ERD officials observed that the oil-rich country, which is currently aiming for an economic transformation and reduction in its oil dependence, is more interested in increasing its investment portfolio in Bangladesh.

"The Saudi authorities will soon hold meetings with Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) to explore the potentials of investment in the prospective sectors," the ERD high official informed.

The JEC meeting also discussed potentials of technical cooperation between the two countries in the area of agro-based industries.

"There are scopes for sharing our technical expertise in the agriculture and fisheries of Saudi Arabia. For example, our experts can contribute to the growing fisheries industries across the Red Sea."

"In addition, Saudis are now looking to invest in agriculture in various African nations. Our technical expertise can be useful for such Saudi ventures," he added.

The JEC meeting also explored ways of increasing Bangladesh's export to Saudi Arabia. "For example, Bangladesh has a huge untapped market for Halal meat in KSA," an official pointed out.

Bangladesh exported goods and services worth US$ 185.2 million to Saudi Arabia in the fiscal year 2016-17. Textile, frozen food and fish are some of the most common commodities which are exported to the Gulf kingdom from Bangladesh.

Apart from export and investment, the meeting also discussed the issue of renewal of the Air Service Agreement between the two countries.

"There will be a formal meeting between Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh and its Saudi counterpart very soon to follow up this issue," an official concerned said.

"We want to ensure that the Saudi national carrier Saudia and Biman Bangladesh operate on an equal footing," he added.