W h y a n d W h a t C a n a d i a n B u s i n e s s

s h o u l d v i e w i n B a n g l a d e s hT h e F e d e r a t i o n o f B a n g l a d e s h

C h a m b e r s o f C o m m e r c e & I n d u s t r y

Sheikh F. Fahim

President, FBCCI

Toronto, August 2019

2

We recall with due reverence, the

architect of modern Bangladesh,

Father of the nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman

for sacrificing his life for the freedom,

equitable growth, and well being of

the people.

3

"As we (Bangladesh) strive to materialize the goals of 'Vision 2021'

and 'Vision 2041', I request the international investors and

entrepreneurs to partner with us in investment, trade, profit sharing

and prosperity,". - H.E Sheikh Hasina, Hon’ble Prime Minister of

the Govt. of Bangladesh.

Since 2008, Hon’ble Prime Minister of the Govt. of Bangladesh

H.E. Sheikh Hasina's economic Vision 2021 and Vision 2041 to

transform Bangladesh from LDC to middle income to develop

nation has demonstrated remarkable progress and we are on a

proven trajectory towards sustainable development. Poverty

reduction, zero tolerance on acts of terror, focus on growth in exports

& foreign reserve, liberal investment policies are some of our

governance strategies that are now being benchmarked as, “how to

develop a LDC towards developing country within ten years in a

democracy”.

With a Pro-Business Govt. of Bangladesh implementing

Vision 2021 and working for Vision 2041 Bangladesh is

gradually moving towards the vision of an advanced

prosperous digital economy.

As one of the most investment friendly countries in the region, along with rapid development of 100 Planned Economic Zones,

the focus is to create an industrial ecosystem; facilitating

employment and growth opportunities.

As poverty continues to decline, improvement in purchasing power parity,

women empowerment and a young population is paving the way for a

thriving Bangladesh

In the power sector; Electricity Generation

Capacity has increased from 4500MW in 2009 to

21,169MW in 2019 with focus on energy efficiency

and development of renewable clean energy.

4

Socio-Economic Development of Bangladesh 2008-2018

Socio-Economic

Development of Bangladesh

2009-2019

5

Bangladesh is transforming into a tech andknowledge based economy with over 7%GDP growth in the last 3 years and over 6%GDP growth in the last decade. In FY 2019reaching a higher trajectory of 8.13%growth.

We are now the 31st economy in the worldas per the GDP (PPP) and 43rd largesteconomy in the world considering nominalGDP.

Rating agencies like Moody’s, Standard& Poor, Fitch has maintained positiverating for stable macro-economy andcredit position.

6

B a n g l a d e s h

T o d a y

According to Price Waterhouse Coopers-Bangladesh

will be the top 3 fastest growing economies by 2030,

along with India and Vietnam. 23rd largest economy

by 2050. An HSBC report on future growth

projections, Bangladesh could become 26th largest

economy by 2030.

IMF forecasted Bangladesh to be among the three

fastest growing economies in the world, and

Standard Chartered reported that the country’s per

capita income will grow nearly four times

throughout the 2020s.

Goldman Sachs put Bangladesh in the “Next 11”

countries to watch after BRICS & JP Morgan

included Bangladesh in ‘Frontier Five

Source: BBS, Bangladesh Economic Review, MoP

In the last decade; the GDP Growth

rate has increased from below 6% to

over 7% and reached 8.13% in FY

2019.

G D P G r o w t h

7

The GNI per capita of the country

increased from US$ 676 to US$ 1752 and

is estimated to reach US$ 1909 by FY

2019, confirming the eligibility to

graduate from an LDC into a MIC.

Income Threshold

6.076.71

6.23 6.01 6.126.55

7.11 7.287.86 8.13

GDP Growth (%) (at constant price)

751 816 840

10541184

13161465

16101751

1909

GNI per capita at Current Market Price (US$)

The economy is transitioning from an agriculture based economy towards

a more industrialized and knowledge based economy with emphasis on

research and innovation.

8Source: BBS, Bangladesh Economic Review, MoP

With strong rural development and an

entrepreneurial culture; poverty rate

has decreased from 35% in 2008 to

around 21.8% in 2019.

35.133.4

31.529.9

28.5 27.2 26 24.8 24.321.8

Poverty Rate (%)

20.29 20.01 19.4216.78 16.5 16 15.35 14.74 14.1 13.6

29.93 30.38 31.1329 29.55 30.42 31.54 32.42 33.71 35.14

49.78 49.6 49.4554.22 53.95 53.58 53.12 52.85 52.18 51.26

Sector Wise Contribution

Agriculture (%) Industry (%) Service (%)

15.6 16.2

22.9 24.327.0

30.2 31.234.2 34.9

36.740.5

Export (Billion US$)

A decade back export was below US$ 16 billion which has

more than doubled to US$40.53 billion in FY 2019 with an

annual growth of 10.55%. Export target for FY 2020 is set at

US$45b.5bn for goods and US$8.5bn for service.

9

With liberal investment policy framework and

environment and macro-economic stability, the net FDI

increased by 363% from 2008-2019 reaching

US$3.61billion in FY 2019.

Source: EPB, BB, Bangladesh Economic Review, MoP

779

1480

2455

3613

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000 Net FDI Flows (US$million)

The Foreign Exchange

Reserves has improved

drastically from US$7bn to

about US$32.28bn as of

August 2019.

Source: BBS, Bangladesh Economic Review, MoP 10

The level of remittance

has increased since 2008

with the highest record of

remittance inflow in FY

2019 at US$16.42 bn.

7.4710.75 10.91 10.36

15.3221.56

25.0230.14

33.49 32.99 32.28

Foreign Exchange Reserves (Billion US$)

9.6910.99 11.65

12.8514.46 14.23

15.31 14.9312.77

14.9816.42

Workers' Remittances (Billion US$)

N a t i o n a l B u d g e t ( C R T k . )

88064

110523

130011

161213

191738

216222

250506

295100

340605

400266

464000

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

450000

500000

2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19

11

The recently declared budget

was worth 4 lakh 64

thousand crore which was

just 89000 crore in 2008.

Since 1972, our budget has

increased by 600%.

Source: BTRC

I C T D e v e l o p m e n t

12

•With the launch of the Bangabandhu Satellite-1;

Bangladesh’s first communication satellite in 2018 has

positioned Bangladesh in the bandwagon of the 4th

industrial revolution becoming the 4th in South Asia and

57th Globally. (Preparation to launch a 2nd and 3rd

satellite.)

•5G Plans under the Vision of Building a Digital

Bangladesh;

•40% of Govt. Services have been digitalized under the

vision of Digital Bangladesh; 60% of the population now

have access to the internet with 92 million users and 95%

of the population are connected through a mobile.

•Bangladesh’s universal fiber optic connectivity projects

are underway, to connect the grass route unions of the

country with high speed broadband internet.0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

26.63

35.63

37.92

48.35

63.29

73.35

80.483

94.44

Internet Users (million)

Mega Development Projects in BangladeshTop 10 priority projects are underway covering power and energy, roads &

communication including:•Padma Bridge,

•Rooppur Nuclear Power project,

•Paira Sea Port,

•the coal fired power projects of Matarbari and Rampal,

•Metro Rail and LNG terminal

7 of the 10 are being implemented at a cost of around US$40bn with a view to creating an enabling investment environment and developing an efficient industrial eco-

system.

13

S e c t o r a l S c a n : R M G

The RMG Sector is the largest export sector

of Bangladesh with US$34.4bn Export in

FY 2018-19.

US$50 bn by 2021 RMG Export Target

Employs about 3 lakh women

7 out of 10 top ranking RMG manufacturing

units in the world are located in Bangladesh.

Room for expansion in the Up-Market

Designer Labels and Textile Innovation.

14

E c o n o m i c S t r e n g t h s

Leather and footwear- Brands like Esprit, Tamaris, Armani and Hugo Boss are beingmanufactured in Bangladesh Export for the FY18 was $1.38 bn

Food products; Agri and Frozen fish- Export for the FY18 was $1.18 bn

Ceramics-Export for the FY18 $51.94mn

Jute goods- 205 Mills, Export for the FY-18: $1.03 bn;

Pharmaceuticals-Exported to about 110 countries worth $103.46mn in FY18

ICT- FY 18 (July-March)- Export was US$ 384.28mn (US$5bn export target by 2021)

In 2008 export was only 50mn.

15

16

B a n g l a d e s h L D C G r a d u a t i o n :

A n o t h e r S t e p F o r w a r d

❑ Bangladesh has officially received the

confirmation UN’s Committee for

Development Policy (CDP) about

attaining the three graduation criteria to

consider for graduation from the group

of least developed countries to a

developing one.

❑ Bangladesh is only country in the world

to meet all the three criteria for LDC

Graduation at the qualification stage.

❑ From the business community we

firmly believe that this will transform

the current trading relationship

UN’s Graduation

Criteria

GNI Per capita

Human Asset Index (HAI):

Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI)

Qualifying Score

$1,242 or above

66 or above

32 or below

Bangladesh’s Score

US$1,909

(FY 18-19)

72.9

24.8

17

• Our long proven relations with Canada since 1972 have been marked by dynamic

partnership. Bangladesh views Canada as a key development partner sharing a number of

multilateral interests in the WTO, support for international peacekeeping and as members

of the United Nations and the Commonwealth.

• Current assistance program of Canada includes gender equality and empowerment of

women and girls, health, skills training and support to the ready-made garment sector.

These development priorities are in line with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance

Policy.

• Bilateral Trade is growing on a positive note and Several flagship Canadian companies

from the aerospace, information and communication technology sectors are actively

looking into investment. The potential however, for substantial trade and investments have

yet to materialize.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

994

1090 11001029

11131079

1119

441

614 586

765727

613

498

Export (US$ billion)

Export Import

18

Bangladesh and Canada’s

trade flows remain much

below potential,

characterized by

concentration of exports of

apparel and import of agro

products (pulses and wheat).

Bilateral Trade Flows

F u t u r e S t r a t e g i c C o o p e r a t i o n

•Joint High tech research, development and innovation including service sectorcooperation, sectoral scan, sectoral mapping and execution of best practices.

•Knowledge transfer to transition from 3rdIR to 4thIR- including service sectorcooperation in ICT, nanotechnology, robotics, IOT, cyber security, AI, quantumcomputing, quantum internet among others.

•Business process re-engineering of MSMEs, fisheries and agriculture.

•Joint collaboration for demand driven technical skills development/ TVETprogram for agro, manufacturing, Industry, service & quaternary economy,academia skill gap assessment and joint venture on blue economy.

•Knowledge transfer for developing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering,Arts, Mathematics) education curriculum, teaching modules and teacher’s training.

•Energy Sector Cooperation- Bangladesh a growing energy market could benefitfrom investment cooperation. In addition the blue energy economy remains largelyuntapped which could be of interest to Canada.

19

V i s i o n

2 0 4 1 -

F B C C I I C O N ( P r o p o s e d )

20

F B C C I V i s i o n 2 0 4 1

In line with our national vision 2041 and the 8th Five Year Plan with a view to achieving the SDGs andgetting on the bandwidth of the 4th Industrial Revolution; FBCCI has taken some medium and long terminitiatives to create an ecosystem of Public Private Partnership which is highly prioritized by the Govt. ofBangladesh.

•Establishment of “FBCCI Institute for Technical Vocation Education and Training” to conductdemand driven skillset for a diversified economic human resource.

•FBCCI Economic Institute for Economic Policy Planning and Design; is set to provide EconomicPolicy Planning and Design; on Trade and Economic issues with an emphasis on behavioral economicsthrough scientific methodology of global standards. FBCCI Economic Policy Institute’s knowledgepartner is Jacobs& Cordova, the global authority on policy planning and design.

•FBCCI University- with a emphasis on the delivery of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering,Arts, Mathematics) focused advanced academic programs; taking an interdisciplinary approach, andcreating a skill set for better addressing the interest of innovation and 4th industrial revolutionnecessary for our transitioning economy.

•FBCCI Arbitration center -is being set up for commercial ADR to help the businessmen to settletheir disputes (domestic and international) with a vision to create a trade facilitation eco-system and tominimize cost and time period in dispute resolution.

21

T h a n k y o u

22