The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) can become the biggest investors if the government takes necessary initiatives in this regard, said Syed AK Anwaruzzaman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SM Group.

Anwaruzzaman, who has been selected as one of the five CIPs (Commercially Important Persons) of Bangladesh for the first time, observed that the country would be benefited significantly if the government takes initiatives to bring the meritorious Bangladeshi citizens back to the country.

"Many Bangladeshis now living in different parts of the world are able to invest millions of dollars. Necessary initiatives should be taken to bring them back to the country providing them proper honour and facilities," he suggested.

"We won't have to be anxious about the foreign investment so much if the expatriate Bangladeshi businessmen start making investment in their own country."

Anwaruzzaman, who was formally given away the CIP certificate by the government on Thursday, noted that the investment by NRBs was more profitable for the country compared to the foreign investment, because all kinds of income and profits of the NRBs would remain in the country. But, it would not happen regarding the foreign investors. Foreign companies have been repatriating millions of dollars to their own countries every year by investing in Bangladesh.

"If a company invest US$50 million in Bangladesh, it repatriates US$500 million," he said.

According to Anwaruzzaman, NRBs expect guarantee of security of their investments before investing their hard-earned money in this country. Many of the potential NRB investors don't want to invest here fearing lack of insecurity of their investments.

He said the NRBs would re-invest their profits in this country instead of repatriate them abroad. Modern technology will come to this country and many people will get employment opportunities if the NRBs are provided with special facilities to invest in Bangladesh. For this the government will have to ensure supply of gas, electricity and other facilities.

Anwaruzzaman also suggested encouraging the NRBs to come back to their motherland. If this can be done, many intelligent and meritorious Bangladeshis will return to their own country. In this regard, he drew the attention to the Indian government's initiatives to bring the Non-Resident Indians to their own country offering higher salaries.

The SM Group chairman said that NRBs faced harassment at the airports frequently.

"There are three types of NRBs living abroad. They are Bangladeshi workers, Bangladeshi businessmen and Bangladeshi intellectuals. Among them, workers do not receive minimum respect at the airports. On the other hand, many of the businessmen and intellectuals become the victims of harassment frequently at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet airports. Abandoning the idea of investing in Bangladesh, majority of them think of return tickets right at the airports to go back abroad.

"This kind of situation must come to an end. We can also take lessons from other countries' experiences in this regard," he suggested.

Regarding investment in Bangladesh, Anwaruzzaman said he left for West Germany in 1978. After spending few years, he joined a company of the United Arab Emirates as a factory expert.

"Later, I passed long 19 years. During this period, I have built eight establishments in Dubai, Khartoum, Paris and the UK. All of my investments were at abroad. But, in 2001, I felt the necessity of involving my children with their motherland. Since then I started thinking to invest in Bangladesh, and set up SM Knitting Industries Ltd under a joint venture. In the following years, areas of my investment in the country started to expand quickly, and at one stage, it appeared as SM Group. I have established as many as 12 companies in the areas of ready-made garment, accessories, agriculture, real estate, and media. Some 350,000 people are now working in these companies. I hope that the number of people working in my companies will reach 5,000 by December next. The annual turnover of these companies is US$21.5 million," he said.

When asked why he had made investment taking so many risks, Anwaruzzaman said, "I don't think that investment in this country is risky. Wherever I stay in my life, I will have to return to my motherland one day.

I always thought that foreign countries were the places of my income and Bangladesh is my motherland. If I can make profit in my own country, why shall I go to Dubai to develop it? From this consideration I tried to increase my investment in this country. Another objective of mine was to create employment opportunities in the country. My country will be benefited if I can contribute to its development, which will also benefit me indirectly."