Bangladeshi PM invites Chinese investors

BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh welcomes China's engagement in its development endeavors, said visiting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina here Friday.

Addressing the China-Bangladesh Business Forum, Hasina invited Chinese companies to invest in Bangladesh, and promised investors would find good government support.

Bangladesh offers immense investment potentials with high return for investors. The attractive economic climate was due to pro-investment fiscal policies, such as avoidance of double taxation, allowing 100 percent foreign equity, the unrestricted exit policy and full repatriation facilities of dividend and capital on exit, Hasina said.

She added that Bangladesh welcomed investment in the growth industries of IT outsourcing, tourism, healthcare, education, power, telecommunications, infrastructure development and pharmaceuticals.

Speaking positively about bilateral cooperation on infrastructure construction of communications and transportation, Hasina said Bangladesh wants to build a deep-sea port in Chittagong, which would require China's support.

Vice Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Zhang Wei echoed the prime minister, saying Bangladesh was attractive for Chinese companies because of its abundant resources, high-quality labor force, and tax-free goods entrance into overseas markets such as the EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

China has been the largest investor of Bangladesh since 2003. At present, 55 Chinese enterprises had proposed investments of 292 million U.S. dollars, which would create over 45,000 jobs for Bangladesh.

The bilateral trade volume between the countries in 2009 reached near 4.6 billion U.S. dollars.

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