—Dr. Mohammad Asaduzzaman—

Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Prof. Muhammad Yunus is expected to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, from January 21–24, with the goal of better coordination with global economic actors, integration with the global economy, and supply chain stability. In addition to his bilateral engagements, he may discuss regional and global issues with world leaders at this meeting. The WEF identifies as a global public-private collaboration organisation.

To influence regional, international, and industry agendas, it involves the most prominent figures in politics, business, culture, and other spheres of society. With its headquarters located in Geneva, Switzerland, the forum was founded in 1971 as a non-profit foundation.

The South Asia’s second-largest economy’s participation at the WEF highlights not only its international economic involvement with major economic powers and multinational corporations, but also its ability to navigate the complicated geo-economic realities in the region. This year’s gathering brings together 350 political leaders, including 60 heads of state and government, from all major regions, along with almost 3,000 leaders from more than 130 nations to discuss strategies to address economic, social, and environmental issues.

Bangladesh is ready to use this year’s WEF summit to draw attention to the enormous economic harm caused by the violent political transition in 2024 and to solicit international economic assistance, investment, and collaboration from global corporations. Meanwhile, the chief adviser will have bilateral meetings with a number of world leaders. Bangladesh requires stronger international economic links. Enhancing the private sector’s close ties with multinational corporations worldwide is another objective of Bangladesh.

Sharing Bangladesh’s perspective on the economic and social effects of changing geopolitical realities, concerns for the economic security and supply chain stability of the South Asian region, and the country’s stance on climate change, food and energy security, and social vulnerabilities during periods of high inflation and slowing economic activity is the main objective of the chief adviser’s vital participation. In areas where Indian trade dominance appears to harm South Asian trade prosperity, Bangladesh aims to balance regional trade prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and South Asian regions. Bangladesh is therefore strengthening its participation in the SARRC resurgence.

This type of economic diplomacy is crucial when Bangladesh’s economic challenges necessitate a multifaceted strategy with multiparty engagement. In order to create an atmosphere of trust and hope, the first step involves creating momentum and enthusiasm among investors and the local and global business community by tapping into the prospective sectors and unlocking unrealised potential. The World Economic Forum meeting might be quite important in this respect.

It is possible to turn Bangladesh’s problems into opportunities by using WEF’s initiatives. Bangladesh is in a strong position to contribute significantly to the global economy and supply chain stability thanks to its competitive advantages, which include demographic dividend, cheap labour, improvements in the labour sector, the government’s ongoing efforts to maintain political stability, and its comparative advantage in the green clothing industry.

The government of Bangladesh must actively participate in the world’s leading business conference in order to take a focused step towards interacting with global economic decision-makers and luring in foreign investments. Bangladesh has enormous potential for international investment because of its big consumer market, strategic location, and huge human resources.

Due to an imminent tariff war between the United States and China and Sino-Indian rivalry, Bangladesh may further benefit from the shifting investment from China and India if it can improve the investment climate, streamline the visa issuance and renewal processes, expedite customs clearance procedures, enhance services offered by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), and lower logistics costs. Mapping out the most efficient and targeted approach to attract global business community should be Bangladesh’s national objective.

The fact is that Bangladesh continues to move up in the Ease of Doing Business rankings and was named one of the world’s leading reforming nations. In order to increase investors’ trust in Bangladesh, it is important to highlight this endeavour. Foreign investors must be informed about Bangladesh’s continuous economic reform initiatives, nation’s strong economic performance and conducive business environment.

To sort out priority industries and draw in investors, the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) is creating a heatmap for foreign direct investment (FDI). After identifying more than a thousand obstacles to investment, BIDA may first concentrate on addressing the major issues. In order to simplify procedures and lure in more investments, Bangladesh is now putting emphasis on enhancing business environment and combining all investment promotion organisations into a single entity.

Five economic zones already have a time-bound plan set by the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza) to become fully operational within the next two years. The strategy calls for the gradual establishment of 133 sectors over the course of the next two years, which may create around 238,000 employment opportunities and $5.5 billion in investment prospects. It is necessary to draw attention to these opportunities in front of international investors at the WEF. Bangladesh must try to leverage the platform for building stronger commercial relations with the world.

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The writer is Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Dhaka.