FDI is not an unmixed blessing but most people agree that its merits outweigh its drawbacks. The oft-mentioned criticism centres on repatriation of money; sometimes profits flown back to the investor's home country may exceed the cash inflow as is the case in the mobile sector in Bangladesh. But benefits are manifold; they include capital inflow, new jobs, access to advanced technology, research development and higher growth.

Bangladesh received $1.08 billion's worth of FDI in 2008, the highest ever and 63 per cent more than the amount received in 2007. The major countries investing during the period July-December 2008  include Egypt ($ 56.99 million), Malaysia ($ 69.95 million), U.K. ($ 52.60 million), Japan ($51.12 million), Norway ($33.47 million), UAE ($29.93 million), Hong Kong ($21.16 million), South Korea ($21.14 million), USA ($17.14 million) and Netherlands ($15.13 million) and the major sectors to have received FDI include telecommunications, textile, food and agriculture. 

In terms of actual investment 2009 has been sluggish        although Board of Investment (BOI) is known to have registered 119 projects that are expected to invest $652.794 million creating employment for 31064 people. This is mostly attributable to the spillover effect of the global financial crisis.

Bangladesh has a number of positive attributes that can successfully attract foreign investors from both developed and developing countries. Here labour costs are relatively low and incentives are provided in the form of tax holiday and exemption from duty on certain items like machineries, not to mention many more provisions; here 100% repatriation of profits and dividends is allowed; here rules and regulations have been simplified to ease doing business. EPZs of Bangladesh provide fully serviced and secured industrial plots and buildings with simplified licensing and permittimg procedure, online customs clearance and logistical support.

Indeed, once in Bangladesh, the foreign investor can easily find out that the country provides tremendous opportunities for investment. Foreign investors who have invested in Bangladesh - from Telenor in the Telecom industry to YKK in the garment accessories industry - only ploughed back more investment in the country.

That said there remain some formidable obstacles that need to be dealt with urgently.Although the country has been enjoying reasonable macroeconomic stability for some time, domestic investment has slowed down considerably. Gas and electric supply situation is alarming, infrastructure especially that of road and transportation is poor, bureaucratic bottlenecks still persist and corruption in all sectors is pervasive. The problems are not insurmountable, and there are indications that the present government is firmly committed to solving them.