Investment Should Not Become Liability

Investors with dubious intention Cause trouble and irritation. Revenue loss,fraudulent activity Result of investment-liability.

For the development of a country, investment plays a crucial role. Foreign Direct Investment fosters employment generation. FDI also brings foreign currency/US dollar into the country. Bangladesh right now feels the hit of a record current account deficit due to lack of foreign currencies.

Apart from that the most crucial thing FDI does is to bring new technology that propels a country to a new stage by increasing productivity, value addition and access to wider market.

Failure to meet these goals deviates a country from the road to reach the next destination. Just a month ago I came across a news report that divulged how our investment policies are being misused by a vested group who plays all the dirty tricks in its book to fool the authority. The report says a Chinese company CONDA Art Materials opened a factory at Chattogram EPZ and exported goods to various countries using “Made In Bangladesh “ label. EPZ authority to its surprise found that the company put “Made In Bangladesh “ tag on Chinese-made goods,forged documents and exported the goods abroad,evading taxes and other tariffs applicable to it as per Bangladeshi laws. The company even paid punitive fees for its act¹.

In this case,no value addition took place,government did not get proper revenue and workers missed the remuneration that went to Chinese workers pockets.”Made In Bangladesh “ price tag is deliberately misused to market goods that are not produced by Bangladeshis.Danger is such misdeed may be replicated if no action is taken.

We need FDI. But who are investing here, how they plan to go ahead with their proposed projects,type of investment are the things that call for greater scrutiny.

Bangladesh lies in a region where bouts of corruption,turmoil, longest running insurgency prevail.Bitter truth is that these things have leverage on our external trade.We should be more cautious to maintain our independent and buffer role when when we give nod to FDIs.

In social media,I watched few videos made by British Travel blogger Simon Wilson who coincidentally/accidentally unearthed how the good intentions of investment may turn ugly. In Cyprus, a British gangster invested in real-estate in a bid to legalize his wealth which he amassed somewhere else. The investment was not properly planned or done with dubious intentions.It led to unsold houses. Some even went to court to sue the gangster for selling one unit of house to multiple clients².

In this case,investment did not resolve the housing problem of the Cypriots and the worst part is that criminal activity spread to other part of the Europe.

Bangladesh’s resource is limited and capacity of our government is not good enough like those of other countries.So detection of fraudulent acts in disguise of investment / economic activity is an uphill task for a poor and corrupt country like ours.

What is worrying we do not have laws or institutions that could distil undocumented money and convert them into productive capital and direct it to economic activities.

Investment, be it domestic or foreign ,should not turn sour. In the case of Cyprus, investment made by British gangster may drive up the housing prices,making it difficult for the ordinary Cypriots to buy a house. Waste of resources (man-hour,land) is also observed. In Myanmar, operation of foreign tour operators did not bring any foreign currency due to Chinese tour operators’ “zero-dolllar” policy. So every penny spent by a tourist went straight into the pockets of Chinese tour operators who arranged the trip. In this case, investment did a tremendous disservice to local industry.

The case of metro could be brought here for discussion. We made investment in public transportation not for quick returns. Metro is considered cheapest mode of transportation.Aam-Admi(ordinary people) travel on metro.That is why fare is cheaper than bus.But in Bangladesh, according to a news report by the Daily Star,minimum fare of metro is TK 20 whereas it is TK 8 for bus.Across the globe metro system is conceived and designed for the mass. And its pricing reflects it.Metro fare in Bangladesh is even higher than that exists in the neighboring countries. I think per kilo fare of metro should be less than per kilo fare of bus,now TK 2 or 2.20. A fare in the range of TK 0.75 –TK 1.5 would be ideal for me.If Delhi,Kolkata can expand their network with such a low fare,then Bangladesh can also follow their footsteps.

Investment should not be a mean to amplify the ordeals of ordinary citizens. It should not be a scope to rich the portfolio of those with bad reputation.It should not also be a source to increase the liability of the country.

Notes And References:

1. ”Chiney Toirey ‘Made In Bangladesh' Ponno Jukto Rashtrey Roftani Kora Hochhey(Chinese Made ‘Made In Bangladesh' Products Are Being Exported To USA)”,AOW News. For more see https://tinyurl.com/44b5ryve
2. Simon Wilson's video on Cyprus millionaire,"Abandoned Millionaire Ghost Town In Cyprus". For more see https://tinyurl.com/ytjdn9z7