December 4, 2001	Tuesday	Ramazan 18, 1422

DHAKA, Dec 3: The US investors are keenly interested to raise their trade activities and investment in Bangladesh since the country’s prospects in these fields are very bright.

But the government should create an investment-friendly atmosphere along with speedy implementation of the reforms programme, especially in the banking sector, to make the good use of Bangladesh’s prospects for foreign investment.

A 15-member delegation of the US-Bangladesh Business Council (USBBC) made these observations during their meeting with commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury at his secretariat office here on Monday.

Commerce secretary Sohel Ahmad was also present at the meeting. USBBC chairman Boyd Montgomery led the delegation, composed of chief executives of world famous companies in energy, engineering, banking, shipping and service sectors.

The main objectives of their visit to Bangladesh are to identify the areas of bilateral trade and commerce between the two countries and increase investment in the prospective fields, an official handout said.

The delegation members pointed out several obstacles prevailing in the field of foreign investment in Bangladesh and urged the government to resolve them as early as possible. They advised for taking up strong reforms measures in the energy and banking sectors for enhanced foreign investment and the overall progress of the national economy.

The commerce minister welcomed the US delegation and said the present “business-friendly” government was working sincerely towards making Bangladesh an ideal country for trade and investment.

“We are following the policy of export-based growth by considering the private sector as the most driving force in this field,” he said.

He said most of the sectors in Bangladesh were open for private investment and asked the delegation members to take this advantage since many industrial units with good physical infrastructures would soon be privatized.—APP