The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) has launched a nationwide survey of industries to build the country’s first comprehensive investment database, aiming to identify investment bottlenecks and give policymakers a stronger evidence base to attract domestic and foreign investment.
The project is being led by BIDA, financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and implemented with technical support from the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM).
It will collect and verify investment data across all eight divisions before producing a unified industrial database, analytical reports and a national investment compendium.
The first divisional consultation was held in Khulna on Thursday.
BIDA Director General Gazi AKM Fazlul Haque said investment policies are often formulated using fragmented information, making it difficult to accurately assess industrial activity and investors’ needs.
He said the survey would support the development of a unified investment information system linked to BIDA’s One Stop Service platform, helping improve policymaking while giving investors easier access to reliable information. Strengthening domestic investment, he added, remains the foundation for attracting foreign capital.
Tasnim Alam, public sector economist at ADB Bangladesh, said Bangladesh has about three years before graduating from least developed country status, making private-sector investment increasingly important for sustaining growth. He said easing regulatory burdens, improving investment facilitation, developing skilled workers and strengthening climate resilience would be critical during the transition.
Selim Raihan, executive director of SANEM, said Bangladesh’s structural, technological and energy transitions require an integrated investment database. He said the project would standardise investment data, strengthen policy analysis and support more credible investment promotion.
Participants identified licensing delays, unreliable electricity and utility services, limited access to bank financing, high lending rates, collateral requirements and inadequate technology support as major barriers to industrial investment.
They also highlighted opportunities in Khulna, including jute, sugar, shipbuilding, cold storage, seaweed, pearl farming, coconut processing, tomatoes, mangoes, mushrooms and betel leaf cultivation.
