As a single country, the United States is Bangladesh's largest trading partner.
Bangladesh's annual exports to the United States exceed $7 billion.
Bilateral trade of the US with Bangladesh is constantly increasing.
The economic experts of the two countries think that it is possible to convert the amount of trade that is going on at the moment to three times more.
In order to move to the next stage of the economy, it is important for Bangladesh to keep in mind two things first.
One, US businessmen need to know more about Bangladesh.
And second, Bangladesh must be ready to welcome US investors.
However, the United States is also considering a number of factors as obstacles to US investment.
There are seven things that need to be improved to get more investment. Here discussing these one by one.
Labour Rights
There is no trade union in industry and garments in Bangladesh.
Trade unions are being formed somewhere under the pressure of American and European countries but they are not being allowed to function.
Anyone who is vocal about trade unions or labor rights is tactfully taken down.
As a result of which trade unions can't be active, there is no one in the companies to speak on behalf of the workers.
That is why the owner determines everything for the worker & imposes a kind of coercion on the worker.
American investors are also quite concerned about that. So we too have a role to play soon in enforcing a labour rights law and its proper implementation.
Workplace environment
In Bangladesh, industry and factories employ more workers in less space, workers have to work even in extreme heat, and there is a considerable shortage of toilet facilities.
In addition, working women have no access to childcare, and their work environment in many places is unsatisfactory.
Many factories have accidents due to electrical short circuits.
There is also an alliance between Bangladesh, Europe and the US to observe these issues.
The American Chamber of Commerce negotiates this.
Especially after the Rana Plaza accident and the fire in various garment factories, everyone is more and more agitated about it.
But in order to get more American investment, it is important to pay more attention to protecting the workplace environment.
Law enforcement
There is no quick fix for financial fraud and foreign investors.
Although the Bangladesh government has talked about one stop service at different times, they have not been very effective yet.
The Doing Business Index is a two-way financial settlement of the World Bank. This means that the money court here is not active, does not work as expected and does not settle quickly.
This means that investors have repeatedly questioned the application of the law and become reluctant to invest.
So law enforcement is also an important issue in financial transactions.
Continuity of policy
Consistency of rules and regulation refers to the continuity of policy.
This means that the government will give regular incentives to corporate and foreign investors.
Although it has not been seen before, recently it is changing.
Again, the government says it will provide duty-free benefits if they invest in certain sectors.
But now it is seen that due to reduction of the revenue of the government, tariffs are being imposed on the import of goods from all sectors.
Investors' business mindsets change when they are in some sectors and not in others, which removes them from investing.
Therefore, it is necessary to take timely investment friendly decisions by maintaining the same policy.
Protection of intellectual property
American investors are always serious about intellectual property.
The use of pirated software, pirated hardware and pirated medicine is very common in Bangladesh.
This reduces the income of investors, which in turn discourages them from making new investments.
It cannot be stopped overnight, but US investors need to be reassured.
The key is to ensure the security of any kind of intellectual property at any cost.
Speedy dispute resolution
Many foreign companies in Bangladesh invest in Bangladesh, doing business jointly with businessmen.
In many cases, it is seen that some dishonest traders kill money, do not pay dividends, and then tactfully remove them from ownership.
Although there are fraud cases of money scammers, those cases are not settled quickly.
This is one of the main fears of US investors. So they have no choice but to overcome this fear.
Make the process of starting a business quick and easy
The process of starting any kind of business in Bangladesh and investment requires 7-17 types of licenses.
There is a lot of running, which increases suffering in a big way.
It also takes different types of clearances.
For that, they have to move to different places at different times.
There are also bureaucratic complications. In order to solve and facilitate this problem, it is necessary to provide one stop service, i.e. all clearances and processes can be carried out in one place.
Along with which an institute has to be built.
There will also be opportunities for guidelines, training and exchange of ideas with investors.
In addition, seven issues have been raised by American investors at various times.
So it is possible to get more American investment in Bangladesh, if these seven factors are seriously improved.
The author is a physician, author, activist and youth leader