Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) Head of Business Development Nahian Rahman has said two companies announced investments worth Tk3,100 crore during the recently concluded four-day Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025, which cost the government around Tk1.5 crore to organize.
He shared this information at a press briefing held on Sunday at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, Bida Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun said that the takeaway from the summit is the need to hold such events regularly, possibly once a year.
He expressed gratitude for the enthusiasm shown and mentioned that efforts would be made to organize more such events in the future to create a positive perception of Bangladesh.
He added that the next government should take similar initiatives.
Ashik also noted that whether the summit was a success would be determined over time.
At the briefing, Nahian said that over 3,500 people attended the summit over four days, including 130 participants comprising panelists and experts.
"A total of 150 official meetings were held during the event. Two official investment announcements were made—by Handa Industry and ShopUp—amounting to Tk 3,100 crore. Additionally, six memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed. The total government expenditure on the summit stood at Tk 1.45 crore, which was 42% lower than the initial budget estimate."
Ashik mentioned that although nearly Tk1.5 crore was spent to organize the summit, it would not be appropriate to give full credit for the Tk3,100 crore investment to the event alone, as a significant amount of groundwork had been done beforehand.
“No one in the world becomes emotional at a summit and suddenly writes a cheque for Tk100 crore,” he said.
“For those who judge the success of such summits based on investment amounts alone, I advise not to rely solely on that criterion.”
He explained that the main objective of the summit was to change the core perception of Bangladesh among foreigners.
“Usually, when foreigners visit Bangladesh, they return with a certain impression and later find similar views online. But this time, those who visited will go back and tell their friends that what they saw on Google is not true,” he said.
“During the first two days, we gave them tours of Bangladesh. On April 9, we tried to present our national vision. Later, we facilitated opportunities for various meetings. Based on the feedback we’ve received, the foreign participants were very pleased with the opportunities and experiences provided,” he added.