DHAKA, July 16, 2026 (BSS) - The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), held a divisional workshop on the Survey of Industries in Bangladesh at a hotel in Khulna today. 

The workshop brought together government officials, private sector representatives, investors, and local stakeholders from across the Khulna division to introduce the survey, explain its scope and purpose, discuss the sectors and investments that hold promise in the region, look at the problems investors face, and ask stakeholders in Khulna to help verify the data.

The survey is a project led by BIDA, funded by ADB, with SANEM providing the technical support. Its purpose is to find out the problems investors face, work towards solving them, and build a proper database that can support investors and help the government put in place policies that work. 

The workshop was chaired by Gazi AKM Fazlul Haque, Director General of BIDA. Sifat Mehnaz, Additional Divisional Commissioner of Khulna Division was the chief at the workshop. Md Tariqul Islam Zaheer, Managing Director of Achia Sea Foods Limited, took part as the guest of honour, and Tasnim Alam, Public Sector Economist at ADB Bangladesh, joined online, said a press release here.

Dr Selim Raihan, Executive Director of SANEM and Professor of Economics at the University of Dhaka, opened the workshop and set out the background of the survey. 

He explained that the aim is to find out the problems investors face, work towards solving them, and build a proper database that supports investors and helps the government frame policies that work. He also spoke about how important it is for everyone to take part, including government bodies, non-government organisations, and the investors themselves.

Tasnim Alam noted that Bangladesh is due to graduate from Least Developed Country status in about three years, and that the private sector will need to play a leading part in the period ahead. 

For that reason the country needs more investors, and it needs to ease the burden they carry. He pointed to BIDA's one stop service as a way to make things simpler, and spoke about the country's growth, the need for skilled workers, sustainable organisations, and building resilience to climate change. 

Md Tariqul Islam Zaheer, speaking as the guest of honour, looked at the industries that Khulna could build in the years ahead. He spoke about jute, sugar, ship building, and cold storage, and how each could help the region over the long run. He pointed out that many of the country's industries still lack modern technology. He suggested setting up eco-friendly industry near the Sundarbans, and asked for support from government, non-government bodies, and investors. 

Sifat Mehnaz suggested that support should reach not only the divisional level but the district level as well. She noted that the country has a large population but little land, so the land must be used well. She said agriculture should be raised through modern technology, and compared the country's fruit farming with that of Thailand. 

Gazi AKM Fazlul Haque, as the Chair, thanked the guests and organisers and spoke about the state of investment in the country at present, both foreign and domestic. 

In the technical session, Dr Selim Raihan and Mr Zubayer Hossen, Programme Director of SANEM, presented on “Survey of Industries in Bangladesh: Scope, Methods, and Stakeholder Cooperation”. 

Dr Raihan explained that Bangladesh is going through three changes at the same time, in energy, in technology, and in the way its economy is put together, and that this calls for a full and connected database on investment. 

He said the overall aim is for BIDA, with support from ADB and technical work by SANEM, to build a complete and unified investment information system for Bangladesh, tied in with BIDA's one stop service portal, so that investment promotion is credible and policymaking rests on evidence. 

The study is delivered through five work streams: collecting investment related data, verifying that data, building a standard database, producing analytical reports and policy briefs, and preparing a national investment compendium.

The open discussion that followed drew a lot of interest from those present. Participants raised government subsidies, the trouble investors face with licensing, the shortage of electricity, and other utility problems. They noted that bank loans are not enough and that bank rates are too high, which makes working capital hard to arrange when starting a new industry.