Bangladesh beckons: Business Summit to sell the real story
Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun is not peddling glossy brochures. The BIDA Executive Chairman wants the world to see Bangladesh raw and real.
“Remote research? It’s a warped lens,” he told reporters Sunday at the Foreign Service Academy, flanked by Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam and Deputy Abul Kalam Azad Majumder. “The Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025 isn’t just a pitch—it’s a front-row seat to the truth.”
From April 7-10, Dhaka rolls out the red carpet for 550 global players from 50 countries—China, the UK, the US, Singapore, South Korea, India, and more. Ashik’s promise? Strip away the Zoom-call haze.
“Investors hear ‘short-term disruption’ and flinch,” he said, nodding to recent flux. “But boots on the ground show a different tale—a long-term goldmine.”
Day one, they will tour Chattogram’s Korean Export Processing Zone and Mirsarai Economic Zone, a 26-strong South Korean crew in tow. Day two, it is Araihazar’s Japanese Economic Zone. By April 9, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus takes the stage at a city hotel, sealing the deal.
Ashik is stacking the deck: dedicated spaces for BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the National Citizen Party to brief investors on the political pulse. “They’ll get the full picture,” he grinned.
Bilateral meeting rooms dot the venue, a corner hums for MoU signings, and a cultural showcase—think Bangladesh’s soul in song and colour—caps it. Oh, and April 9 doubles as Starlink’s demo day, a tech tease amid the talk. “It’s collective,” Ashik said. “Private sector, embassies—they’re all in.”
Dr Yunus is not mincing words either. “There’s never been a better moment,” he’s told the world, hyping a “new Bangladesh” ripe for transformative bets. “We’re levelling the field—data-driven, open for business.” His summit invite doubles as a dare: come see a dynamo economy up close. Ashik echoes it, painting a vision beyond glitches—a market pulsing with promise, crowned by the new Excellence in Investment Award for trailblazers in scale, sustainability, and jobs.
This summit’s no dog-and-pony show. It’s Bangladesh unfiltered—grit, growth, and a global handshake. Ashik’s betting 550 sets of eyes will spot what screens can’t: a nation on the cusp. Will they bite? Yunus is waiting, and Dhaka’s doors are wide.
