The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh suffered a setback in receiving foreign direct investment (FDI) in the year 2007, registering US$ 666 million, which was 16 percent lower than US$ 793 million of the previous year.

The country's FDI inflow went down at a time when the global FDI increased by around 30 percent, according to a new World Investment Report (WIR) 2008 released here yesterday.

The Board of Investment (BoI) launched the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report subtitled "Transnational Corporations and the Infrastructure Challenge" simultaneously from across the world.

"Foreign investors might have found investing profitable elsewhere than Bangladesh due to problem of infrastructure, mainly the gas and electricity," BoI Executive Chairman Kamaluddin Ahmed told the launching ceremony at BoI.

"There was a political stability in the country, but the political uncertainty was a factor deterring investment," said Dr M Ismail Hossain of Jahangirnagar University, who presented the WIR, replying to a question.

According to the report, Bangladesh's ranking in inward FDI performance dropped one point to 121 out of 141 countries that came under review from 120 of 2006 rankings.

Bangladesh shared only 3.4 percent of the global FDI of US$ 1,833 billion during the year, which was 4.5 percent and 5.2 percent in the years 2006 and 2005 respectively.

The United States, United Kingdom and France received highest FDI while China and Hong Kong have been the Asian leaders in FDI inflow and India emerged as the south Asian FDI leader.

Replying to a question, BoI Executive Chairman Kamaluddin Ahmed said the country's FDI would be affected unless the problem of gas and electricity is solved.