Pointing out poor law and order, they said they were the victims of regular robbery and theft of materials by armed mafia at construction sites mainly outside Dhaka.

The survey, presented to Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman by Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka Matsushiro Horiguchi, termed the official process in Bangladesh 'very slow', saying the universal concept of 'time is money' was absent in Bangladesh.

The performance of Chittagong Port is poor, while immigration and tender process in the public and other sectors are time-consuming, the investors said.

They said they often found contents in parcels 'missing'.

The Japanese companies also alleged frequent disruption in utility services like power, gas, water and telecommunications.

In the survey conducted by the Japanese Commerce and Industries Association in Dhaka, many firms said bribe demands for the renewal of a re-export permit for construction machinery ranged between Tk 50,000 and Tk 3,00,000.

They alleged that the import duty was determined arbitrarily at the discretion of the assessing officers. The customs authorities also demanded money in clearing machinery bound for Japan for repair.

In one case, the Dhaka Export Processing Zone and Uttara customs authorities demanded Tk 10,000 and Tk 15,000 respectively as 'underhand money' for the purpose, the investors said.

The finance minister could not be reached by phone for comments yesterday.

The survey was conducted in January this year to find out various impediments to foreign investment in Bangladesh.

The decision to conduct the survey was taken at the 12th meeting of the Japan-Bangladesh Joint Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation in April last year.

Citing an instance of robbery and theft at construction sites, the report said one Japanese firm had experienced theft incidents for more than 200 times in last one and a half years.

The stolen materials including steel bars, timber, fuel, batteries, cement and cost the company about Tk 25 lakh in losses.

Apart from theft, there are cases of assault on local employees by mafia groups. Sometimes, explosives were also hurled at the construction site to create panic.

The law-enforcement agencies are not serious to curb such activities of the criminal groups, they observed.

The Japanese investors also found lack of reliability and continuity in national policies, attention to existing foreign investment companies and long-term policies for developing industries.

Although Japanese investors were supposed to get a new work permit within three to four months and its renewal within one to two months, there are several examples where the permits were not issued even in six months because of nonpayment of bribes, they alleged.

The average amount of bribe for a work permit is Tk 9,600 and for a multiple visa Tk 4,300, they alleged, saying the figure was compiled on the basis of complaints made by 22 firms.

They also expressed dissatisfaction at frequent changes in polices and at political and social problems like frequent general strikes that act as major barriers to foreign investment.

The Japanese investors found unbearable traffic jam because of the movement of motor vehicles and rickshaws together on the roads.

Frequent general strikes called by political parties and strikes by labour unions are making the businesses suffer, they added.

The Japanese investors also criticised the role of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) and the Board of Investment (BoI) in attracting foreign investment.

Although the agencies were supposed to provide 'One Stop Service', in reality an investor has to approach each and every department to complete the formalities for an investment, the report said.