Bangladesh is not yet conducive enough for foreign investment: Italian envoy

Italian Ambassador to Dhaka Antonio Alessandro has said that the environment in Bangladesh is not yet conducive enough for foreign investment.

He made the comments at a discussion on strengthening relations between Bangladesh and Italy at the BIS Auditorium in the capital on Monday (November 10). People from various professions working on Bangladesh-Italy bilateral relations participated in the discussion.

At the beginning of the discussion, research papers were presented on the current picture and prospects of Bangladesh-Italy relations. Later, the discussants made various suggestions to strengthen the relationship.

Highlighting some shortcomings in the bilateral relations, Antonio Alessandro said that a favorable environment has not yet been created in Bangladesh for foreign investment. However, the steps taken by the interim government are commendable.

The Italian ambassador said: "I hope that these efforts to attract foreign investment continue even after the elections. Because foreign investment does not come suddenly. Local governance, laws, rules and regulations are important. There is still a lot of room for improvement here."

He said that the quality of Bangladeshi passport is very low in the world ranking.

He believes that illegal immigration is the reason for the decline in the quality of the Bangladeshi passport. At the same time, he discouraged people from going to Italy illegally, commenting that Bangladesh is an important migration partner of Italy.

He also said: "It mainly depends on trust. Many Bangladeshis go out illegally and later seek asylum. This is harmful for the passport ranking."