China wants to see Bangladesh improve its investment climate by removing bottlenecks and making regulations easier, as the Asian economic giant wants to increase investment in Bangladesh.”We hope Bangladesh will consistently improve the investment environment to facilitate investment from China,” Wang Qihui, commercial counsellor of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese commerce ministry, told a group of journalists from Bangladesh recently.He said Bangladesh, having a large population and huge domestic needs for commodities, has all the potential to attract Chinese investment.Qihui said they have received feedbacks from the Chinese companies on the problems they are facing in Bangladesh.He also said Chinese companies have a feeling that Bangladesh’s infrastructure facilities are not modern and adequate, transportation cost is higher and customs clearance takes more time compared with China.In some cases, he said, they find it quite difficult to get in touch with the government officials in Bangladesh.Qihui, however, said his government will “certainly and consistently” encourage Chinese companies to make more investment in Bangladesh to take benefit of the existing advantages.”There has been fascinating enthusiasm among the Chinese investors. Their interest for making investment is on the rise.”Both Bangladesh and China have dreams, and those are interlinked, he said. The official said textiles, home appliances, jute and power generation are the key areas where the Chinese businesses would like to invest in.He said China has rich experience in agriculture technology and e-commerce; both the countries can explore these areas through enhanced collaboration.On minimising the trade gap between the two countries, Qihui said the Chinese government is ready to take some measures to reduce the gap which is heavily in favour of China now.He said the special economic zones will hopefully be ready by 2016 and some 200 textiles and clothes manufacturing units from China will get entry into the zone.Asked whether China would seek a third economic zone from Bangladesh, he said: “We are yet to get any information regarding the development. We hope we will soon get the information and then we will explore possibilities.”Bangladesh has already allocated two special economic zones for Chinese investors in Chittagong and Dhaka where they are likely to invest more than $4 billion.Chen Hangying, the first secretary of the Department of International Trade and Economic Relations, said the Chinese government provides a new package for all the least-developed countries. “We hope Bangladesh will choose the latest package,” she said.
