The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Bangladesh is facing critical challenges as a plethora of factors have caused it to stagnate to a mere 0.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in recent years.
In the July-September quarter of FY25, the South Asian country received 71 percent less foreign investment year-on-year, down from $360.5 million in the July-September period of FY24, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
Even more concerning is the fact that a recent report by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), styled ‘The FDI Heatmap’, emphasised the significant lack of structured investment promotion campaigns for domestic industries.