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Tuesday | November 10, 2026 | Dhaka
Experts apprehend

Japanese investment to nose dive

 New Nation
 Published: 12:00 AM, 07 October 2015

Badrul Ahsan :
Japan’s investment in Bangladesh may fall in stumbling block following the recent killing of a Japanese citizen, barely a week into the killing of another foreigner, an Italian national, in the country, experts opined.
They said the occurrence happened at a time when Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Japan is increasing gradually and some big conglomerates like Marubini, Mitsubishi and Toyota are showing their interests to make a big size of investment in the country.
“Japani investors are very much choosy about investment climate. They scrutinize every issues of investment before making decision. So the incidence will no doubt leave an adverse impact on FDI from a Fareast Asian country in Bangladesh,” Executive Director of Policy Research Institute (PRI) of Bangladesh Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur told the New Nation on Tuesday.
He added: “Now the whole thing depends on how the government handles the issue. If the government can find out the reason behind the killing and bring the culprits under trial, then the situation may come under control.”
Echoing the same Director of Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JBCCI) Asif A Chowdhury said, “After a long try, we had succeeded in convincing Mitsubishi, Honda and some other big Japanese investors to invest in Bangladesh. Now we are in fear about the future of the prospective investments.”
He said, as part of the development of Japanese FDI, a Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Investment of the government of Japan Yoshihiro Seki along with other government and business delegates visited Bangladesh on October 1, 2015 and met with the high-ups of the government to discuss the investment climate in Bangladesh and some other issues.
“Now everything has become uncertain. We are waiting for aftermath of the government’s action,” Chowdhury added.  
Executive Chairman of Board of Investment (BoI) Dr. S.A Samad, however, expressed the hope of keeping every thing under control.
“We are very much aware of the impact of the incidence and are trying to ensure optimum justice for the deceased. If the law-enforcers can arrest the culprits then we are hopeful of keeping everything under control,” he added.
According to data available with the BoI, FDI from Japan in Bangladesh has been increasing gradually for the last five of years.
Investors of Japan have invested $95.71 in 2014, $94.37 in 2013, $30.08 in 2012, $46.55 in 2011 and $21.79 in 2010, the BoI data showed.
Besides, 17 investors from Japan have listed themselves with the BoI to invest $12.985 million in different sectors of Bangladesh, the data further revealed.