German embassy holds economic reception to explore investment potential in Bangladesh

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Dhaka held an economic reception bringing together leaders of German private sector investors in Bangladesh to explore emerging investment opportunities and assess the country's post-election economic outlook.

Ambassador Dr Rüdiger Lotz hosted the reception held recently at his residence in Dhaka, which featured a keynote presentation by Chandan Sapkota, Country Economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), on investment challenges and opportunities in the post-election context. The event focused on the evolving macroeconomic environment and its implications for business stability, regulatory predictability, and operational efficiency.

Representatives from German companies operating in Bangladesh participated in the discussion. Participants highlighted bureaucratic bottlenecks, regulatory uncertainty, and governance-related constraints as key challenges affecting the ease of doing business.

In his keynote address, Sapkota outlined several macroeconomic vulnerabilities, including low revenue mobilisation, high non-performing loans, financial sector vulnerabilities, lack of inter-institutional coordination, fiscal stress, high inflation, and limited foreign exchange reserves.

Despite these challenges, he noted that Bangladesh's economy continues to demonstrate resilience, with growth slowing to around 4% but remaining among the fastest in South Asia.

He further highlighted the government is very determined on job creation as they are planning to create 10 million jobs in 5 years and transform Bangladesh into a $1 trillion economy by 2034.

The government has mega infrastructure development plans and is working with ADB in this regard which will stimulate the economy by bringing investment from multi-donor agencies. These mega economic plans will also create huge opportunities for private sector investment.

He emphasised the need for stronger governance frameworks, improved regulatory enforcement, and enhanced institutional coordination to strengthen the investment climate. He also underscored the importance of building public trust in governance institutions to improve tax compliance and fiscal capacity.

Ambassador Lotz stated that Europe remains Bangladesh's largest export market and reaffirmed interest in further expanding European business engagement in the country.

He noted that the objective of the dialogue was to better understand existing constraints while identifying areas of opportunity for future investment and cooperation.

The embassy said the reception forms part of its ongoing efforts to deepen economic ties between Germany and Bangladesh and to facilitate greater private sector engagement in key growth sectors.