Art Work: Nuruzzaman Noor

EDITOR'S NOTE

In spite of the known odds, investment, both foreign and domestic -- in that order -- has started picking up. Some of it is already operational, and the rest is either in the pipeline, or proposed -- rather impressively lately, in a turn of luck.

Although we are not quite in the same league with the high FDI achievers in Asia, yet the impression is gaining ground that we might have got pretty close to being a favoured destination. If one were to recall the sound bytes of a rather written-off Bangladeshi image as the unfortunate victim of a failing political and governance cultural mix, the investment opportunities opening up before us, undeterred, as a potential engine of growth, are a refreshing breeze wafting us through the maze of political complications.

The shoring up trend is spurred on by a new genre of cross-gender young entrepreneurs in the domestic sphere and an increasingly dawning realisation on foreign investor and securities groups that the true potential of Bangladesh has indeed remained untapped, unrealised, meriting a critical transfusion of investment. Call it negativity fatigue warming up to the attractions in the country's possibilities rankings mulled over in the privacy of group meets, or a genuine recognition of Bangladesh's inner strength that holds its ground against stunning odds including extremism to make itself felt like the truth does.

If what we have said above is borne out by the following pages treated under three heads -- How to get more of it; The present state and The way forward, our anniversary celebration endeavour will have been amply rewarded. With these words, we invite you to this leg of our journey through the investment rail.