In last 13 years, Bangladesh has received $30 billion in foreign investment in the power sector, mostly in fossil fuel-based energy. Even though Bangladesh has set a target to generate 40 per cent power from renewable energy sources by 2041, foreign investment in the sector is low.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a private think tank, said there is a huge potential for foreign investment in renewable energy. But there is a lack of necessary steps to attract investment.
This was disclosed at a virtual event titled ‘’Opportunities and challenges for overseas investment in renewable energy sector of Bangladesh: The case study of China’’ organised by CPD on Monday.
Mashfiq Ahsan, Research Associate of CPD, in his presentation said that Bangladesh offers various benefits, including tax exemptions for foreign investors, but foreign investors are less enthusiastic about investing in Bangladesh because they face many problems, including bureaucratic tangles and slowness in getting services.
Bangladesh received $3,479.95 million of foreign investment in the energy sector in 2022, up 20.2 per cent from 2021. CPD mentioned that UK, Hong Kong, Netherlands, China, USA and Japan are the main investors in the power energy sector of Bangladesh.
CPD's presentation said that political stability, well infrastructure, skilled manpower, investment incentives are needed in the country to attract foreign investment in the renewable energy sector.
For this, Bangladesh has to create a world-class project profile and communicate with multinational companies like Vestas, and Siemens. CPD recommended establishing investment attraction agency in addition to Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and increasing government investment with the private sector to gain confidence of foreign investors.
In addition, CPD has recommended one-stop investment service centre to reduce harassment of investors, emphasis on training of jobseekers to facilitate development of infrastructure, technology transfer and job creation, bringing foreign investment in backward linkage industries and attracting cluster-based investment for development of existing 177 SME clusters in Bangladesh.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director of CPD, said China is the global leader in the use of renewable energy. However, Bangladesh is lagging behind. Bangladesh is ranked 111th among 190 countries in renewable energy usage. Bangladesh has a lot to learn from this development of China, he added.
Wasika Ayesha Khan MP, chairperson of the parliamentary standing committee on power, energy and mineral resources ministry, Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen, and Director General of Power Cell Mohammad Hossain were also present at the event.
