Foreign Affairs Advisor Md Touhid Hossain stated that political “uncertainty” caused by the changeover of power has led foreign investors and expatriates to lose confidence in Bangladesh due to a lack of “financial security.” However, the interim government aims to quickly restore their confidence with a “roadmap.”
Touhid made the comments during his speech as the chief guest at the inauguration of the Branding Bangladesh World Conference series, organized by the Centre for NRB (non-resident Bangladeshis) at a hotel in Dhaka on Saturday.
“When there is political uncertainty, people are not encouraged to come and invest,” he said.
“That is why a difficult task lies ahead, and we hope a roadmap will be released soon. Once it is, confidence will be quickly restored.”
The advisor mentioned, “There are foreign investors, including NRBs, who are willing to invest their personal funds. But they will not come, even if they are NRBs, without certainty. This is very natural because you need to ensure that your money is secure. That is undeniable.”
“We are looking into it, and our goal is to hand over power to an elected government through an election. We know this needs to happen soon, and the government is working towards this goal.”
Although he did not specify when the “roadmap” would be released, he said: “When the roadmap comes out, many people will feel confident and investments will follow. If investment does not come, we will not be able to continue. We have a large number of people entering the labor market, and we cannot simply send them abroad. We need to create employment for them here. That requires investment.”
“Of course, political certainty will be a factor. We hope to emerge from this uncertainty soon. Once we do, the investment environment will improve, and investments will come in. Employment will increase in the country.”
The advisor also briefly addressed a recent incident involving four Norwegians of Bangladeshi origin and a Bangladeshi citizen, who were harassed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Wednesday night. A video showing one of the Norwegians being beaten and left bloodied went viral on social media.
Without delving into specifics, the advisor commented: “Harassment at missions, especially at the airport… I can tell you that even the recent incident will be dealt with immediately.”
“I am confident the culprit will be punished. My colleagues on the Advisory Council are aware of this issue and are committed to addressing it.”
Touhid continued, “I know that my acquaintances have faced harassment at different times. This must stop. Recently, we opened a lounge for NRBs arriving from abroad. I understand that it’s not enough, and there is much more to be done.”
“I acknowledge that insufficient measures have been taken to prevent harassment. We are making efforts to protect people from such mistreatment and to hold those responsible accountable. We will continue to pursue this.”
