US firms eye Bangladesh’s aerospace, tech, energy sectors

American companies are interested in investing in a broader range of sectors having growth potential in Bangladesh, including aerospace, digital economy, energy and life sciences, said US-Bangladesh Business Council President Atul Keshap.

"Bangladesh has done so many things right to help its people generate wealth and prosperity and our companies have been a part of that as American companies have been investing here for several decades," he told reporters after a delegation of the US Chamber of Commerce met prime minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman at the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) office in the capital on Tuesday.

It was the largest-ever American business delegation meeting with the Bangladesh government where executives of some 40 US firms attended.

The list of the firms includes trillion-dollar investment fund manager Blackstone, Visa, Mastercard, Boeing, Meta, Metlife, Uber, Abbott, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Excelerate Energy, Bell Textron, GE Aerospace, Standard Chartered, Drinkwell, Corteva alongside the Bangladesh-focus US ventures like Chaldal, Anchorless Bangladesh, Praava Health.

Atul Keshap said the executives had "a good and mutually respectful dialogue with the Bangladesh government".

"Through such discussion with the government, we may work through the issues that might come up and hopefully generate further investment and prosperity," Atul added.

In the press briefing after the meeting, Salman F Rahman said the US firms' executives lauded the economic development and market opportunities in Bangladesh and expressed their interest in investing in various sectors. The Bangladesh government will keep supporting foreign investors.

Bangladeshis spend huge sums every year for their healthcare abroad and seeing the growing market here with a lucrative return potential, the US investors were interested in healthcare investments in the country, Salman said.

He said the Smart Bangladesh vision offers many investment opportunities to US firms, adding that e-commerce could be a lucrative sector.

The government is also working to facilitate cross-border online trades and international electronic payments to unleash the potential, he said.

The issues with foreign currency payments from Bangladesh nowadays have been a concern for some investors, Salman said, adding, "They [US company representatives] understand well that the forex issues were a consequence of the Russia-Ukraine war. Not only Bangladesh but the entire developing world faced a hard time managing their exchange rates and forex reserves."

The USA is the largest source of cumulative foreign direct investment in Bangladesh.

Salman F Rahman also said no discussion about Bangladesh's upcoming national election was held in the meeting, instead, the business executives lauded the growth story of Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Under invoicing must be kept in check

The export-import data provided by different government agencies does not match and Salman F Rahman said it might have been happening due to the difference in calculation method.

For example, the Export Promotion Bureau depends on shipment data, while the Bangladesh Bank only counts the realised financial value of exports and imports.

About the allegation that many Bangladeshi businesses understate their imports from China to evade duties, Salman said if that is the case, then under-invoicing must be kept in check.