On May 25 of 2024, Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun performed a skydive from a plane at an altitude of 41,000 feet over Memphis, USA, with the Bangladeshi flag in hand. His skydive was officially recognized by Guinness World Records on July 1 of the same year. Few months later, on September 12, Ashik Chowdhury was appointed Executive Chairman of both the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA).

Since taking office, Ashik Chowdhury—known for his confident demeanor—has taken an energetic approach to promoting investment. His initiatives include organizing an investment summit, preparing an investment heatmap, registering Elon Musk’s Starlink in Bangladesh for satellite-based internet service, signing an agreement with NASA for peaceful and civil space exploration, and consolidating all investment promotion agencies under one roof. The latest on the list is attracting Danish logistics giant AP Moller-Maersk to invest in the Chattogram port’s infrastructure. These moves have stirred a buzz—especially across social media.

Following his appointment, Ashik Chowdhury has launched various campaigns in the past seven months aimed at improving Bangladesh’s investment climate. However, those efforts have yet to translate into concrete results. The number of investment proposals registered with BIDA has dropped, and according to the central bank, net inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) are also in decline. Imports of capital machinery—a key indicator of industrial investment—have fallen as well. While Ashik Chowdhury’s media visibility is soaring, the reality of actual investments tells a different story.

According to Bangladesh Bank’s Balance of Payments (BoP) data, net FDI inflow for the first nine months of the current fiscal year (July–March) stood at $861 million, compared to over $1.16 billion in the same period of FY2023–24. This marks a 26 percent decline.

Data from the central bank’s Weekly Selected Economic Indicators shows that payments for capital machinery imports in the same nine-month period amounted to over $1.52 billion, down from over $2.13 billion a year ago, indicating a 28.68 percent drop.

Bonik Barta attempted to reach Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun multiple times since Sunday (May 11) to get his response regarding the current investment landscape. Written questions, along with relevant data, were also sent to his office. Yet, no reply had been received at the time of filing this report.

To get an official statement, Bonik Barta also reached out to Dr. Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant and a figure with the rank of State Minister at the Ministry of Finance. Speaking to Bonik Barta, he said, “Overall, investment is fundamentally tied to the economy. It’s circular in nature. Objectively speaking, the rate of domestic and foreign investment in Bangladesh has historically remained low. So the current state of investment isn’t entirely new. Investment always unfolds through an ongoing process. Question remains if comparing current figures with past ones is fair or not.”

He added, “Long-term investment takes time. Investors consider many variables. Investment doesn’t rise overnight. Recently, an investment summit was held where some commitments were made, but implementing those will take time. Right now, several uncertainties exist. We just saw a short-lived war. The Rohingya issue remains unresolved. Politically, we’re going through a turbulent time. The government has taken several recent steps to improve the investment climate. We’ll need time to see how things unfold.”

Just four days after being appointed as the Cxecutive Chairman of BIDA and BEZA on September 12, Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud bin Harun met with representatives of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). At the meeting, he expressed hopes to soon overcome the current challenges and obstacles in foreign investment.

On October 30, Ashik Chowdhury inaugurated BIDA’s webinar titled ‘State of Investment Climate.’ In his closing remarks, he emphasized the creation of a fair and transparent business environment and unveiled a roadmap aimed at improving ease of doing business and tackling corruption.

On November 18, BIDA announced plans to develop an FDI Heatmap, identifying promising countries, competitive sectors, and strategic investors based on reliable and up-to-date data. Ashik Chowdhury pointed out at the time that the country lacked aggressive investment promotion. He hinted at a data-driven, strategic approach to boost foreign investment.

The FDI Heatmap was officially launched on January 19 this year. At that time, Ashik Chowdhury said that the Heatmap is not just a plan, but a blueprint for the country’s future investment drive. He stated that any roadshow, bilateral agreement, or policy support will be guided by this data-driven framework.

On March 23, Ashik Chowdhury announced the Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025, which was held in April. The summit drew 415 participants from 50 countries. At the end of the summit, Ashik Chowdhury reported receiving investment proposals totaling BDT 31 billion.

His smooth presentation style caught attention among the summit’s international delegates and quickly gained praise on social media and beyond. Toward the end of the event, several media outlets spoke of “Ashik’s magic” raising hopes for major investments in Bangladesh. However, industry sources say that this “magic” is yet to reflect in actual investment figures.

Local investors have said foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka are not showing much enthusiasm regarding Bangladesh’s current investment landscape. One local businessman shared an anecdote from the investment summit held in April. He had asked an ambassador whose country had multiple investor participants, “How long might they take to start implementing their investments?” The ambassador responded bluntly that no investor will come to Bangladesh without a political government. Citing the lack of improvement in law and order, he added that mob activities were still ongoing.

Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI), told Bonik Barta, “Foreign investors are waiting for a political government before making any final investment decisions. Attracting investment also depends on the kind of offers we’re making. Right now, even local investors aren’t interested. So how can we expect foreigners to invest?”

He pointed out that bank loan interest rates in Bangladesh are currently over 15 percent. “Who would invest with such high interest rates? Beyond that, our power, energy, and transportation costs are much higher than in competing countries. And let’s not even get into the bureaucratic tangles! Under these circumstances, why would a foreign investor come here? Foreign investors don’t borrow from our banks—locals do. They only invest when they see local investors moving first. But locals are holding back for many reasons. If we don’t invest, foreign investors won’t be interested either.”

Dr. Selim Raihan, Executive Director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), told Bonik Barta, “BIDA’s current Executive Chairman is young, energetic, and has some international experience, which gives us hope. But I don’t believe he alone can drive change. It requires a coordinated institutional effort, involving not just BIDA or BEZA, but all relevant bodies. His initiatives may be commendable, but without comprehensive coordination and ground-level execution, they won’t translate into real outcomes. We still have a long road ahead.”

He continued, “If we had even one large-scale investment, the government wouldn’t need to work this hard. That one investor’s good experience would attract others. But we don’t have that track record. So we need an extraordinary and exceptional effort.”

Dr. Selim Raihan also emphasized the need to focus on executing the initiatives already underway. “Bureaucratic complications still abound. Many agencies claim to serve investors but don’t function effectively in practice. Foreign investors often raise serious concerns about our tax system. The NBR’s tax policies are unpredictable, which is far from investor-friendly. Investors also face hurdles when trying to repatriate their profits. These problems discourage new investments—only existing players are reinvesting. We’re still struggling with logistics and investment infrastructure. In this situation, investors have plenty of alternatives. They can choose Vietnam, Cambodia, or even Indonesia. Why would they choose Bangladesh? If we want to attract them, we must make Bangladesh appealing on all fronts. And above all, there’s the issue assuring of political stability.”

Amid an overall fragile investment climate in Bangladesh, the Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), Ashik Chowdhury, continues to paint an optimistic picture with his “magic.” His latest remarks came during a visit to Laldia Char near Chattogram Port on May 8, where he spoke of a major upcoming foreign investment. According to him, global shipping and logistics giant AP Moller–Maersk has expressed plans to invest $800 million at the port. Ashik Chowdhury shared that during a recent visit to Maersk’s headquarters in Denmark, company officials informed him of their investment interest.

While his optimism drew attention, stakeholders note that translating such enthusiasm into real investment takes time. Local investors are still holding off, observing the broader situation and waiting for what they deem a more favorable environment. Meanwhile, foreign investors and their representatives continue to maintain that until there is visible political stability, they are unlikely to move forward with new investments.

There is also little sign of increasing investment based on BIDA’s own reporting. The organization previously released quarterly reports on registered investment proposals, available on its website. However, the most recent data only covers the April–June quarter of 2024. When contacted yesterday (May 12) for updated numbers, BIDA shared that a total of 1,113 local and foreign investment projects were registered during FY2023–24. The combined proposed investment from these projects stood at over BDT 891.27 billion.

By contrast, in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year (July to April), only 814 projects were registered with a combined proposed investment of over BDT 279.36 billion. With two months still remaining in the fiscal year, the figures already suggest a downward trend in both the number of registered projects and the volume of proposed investment compared to the previous year.

Zaved Akhtar, president of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), told Bonik Barta, “The new Executive Chairman may be trying his best, but we need to see whether the state is making that effort collectively. One person alone can’t fix things. Law and order has not improved. And stability is still missing. Naturally, that makes it difficult to build investor confidence.”

He added, “Right now, every investor is wondering how long the current government will stay and when a new one might come in. These are unavoidable considerations when deciding on new investments. That’s why investment decisions are slowing down. Ashik Chowdhury is trying, no doubt. But the results of his efforts haven’t yet shown up on paper. It will take time. We’ll have to be patient.”

Zaved Akhtar added, “The challenges to investment in Bangladesh are long-standing issues. These won’t be resolved overnight, it will take time. But someone has to take the initiative. Many of the previous Executive Chairmen had little understanding of business. The current one is trying. However, we haven’t seen any visible progress yet as a result of his efforts. Given the weak long-term investment infrastructure, it’s not realistic to expect instant results either.”

Syed Ershad Ahmed, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham), echoed a similar sentiment. He told Bonik Barta, “It’s true that he (Ashik Chowdhury) is making an effort. But it’s also true that we won’t see quick results—this will take time. When it comes to domestic investment, financing remains a big hurdle. Right now, the most critical task is to build the structure to attract investment. That takes time. The current BIDA Executive Chairman is prioritizing logistics, which is a positive move. But this should have been done long ago. For investment to grow, a coordinated and capable framework is essential, and that’s only just starting to take shape. If these fundamentals can be properly addressed, we might start seeing results.”

He added that it took the new Chairman about three to four months to fully understand the situation. “He first identified the challenges. Now, he’s starting to address them. If he can do that effectively, we may see some positive signs in six months.”

Economic analysts also shared similar views. According to them, foreign direct investment (FDI) depends on a wide range of factors, and Bangladesh has not been able to make notable progress in this area for years. Expecting rapid change would be unrealistic. There is still a lot of work to be done. The same issues that are holding back domestic investment also affect foreign investors.

Currently, the country is facing political uncertainty—questions remain about how long the current government will stay, when the next election will be held, and when a new elected government will come to power. There is also uncertainty over whether the current reform initiatives will be continued by the next administration or whether policy changes will occur. Analysts point out that in such uncertain conditions, no matter how many initiatives are taken, investors tend to wait and observe. Foreign investors, in particular, take a long-term view and want to be sure their investments will not suffer. That is why they are being extra cautious. Both domestic and foreign investment activity remains weak under the current circumstances.