Salman F Rahman said Bangladesh is moving in the right direction

Salman F Rahman, the vice chairman of Beximco Group and chairman of IFIC bank, said that pharmaceutical exports of Bangladesh are about to take off. He predicted this during an interview with NIKKEI Asian Review.  He also said that stock market of the country is not a mature one and lacks institutional investors. The interview was published in March 2015 where he discussed many points with the correspondent of NIKKEI Asian Review.

Salman F Rahman, a leading businessman of Bangladesh, talked about some core issues quite bluntly. In answering one question from NIKKEI Asian Review journalist Joseph Allchin, Salman F Rahman said the state owned banks were the backbone of the economy. He explained that in the early years of liberated Bangladesh, there were no private banks. Even when private banks started their operations, they were not big enough to provide support to the growing business sector. They did not have the capital adequacy to lend. It was the state owned banks those provided the largest companies of Bangladesh loans which eventually turned into economic progression. He mentioned Beximco Group is a good example which took loans from state owned banks for expansion. It is now one of the largest companies in Bangladesh.

Full interview can be viewed in the NIKKEI Asian Review page.

While answering a question on the stock market, Salman F Rahman said it is still a frontier market which does not have adequate institutional investors. He explained that there are small retail investors operating in the stock market who do not have information. As consequences, these small retail investors depend on rumors and make lose in the process.  He also mentioned that the government has taken some steps to stabilize the market of which some worked, some did not work.

In one question, Joseph Allchin asked whether the weakness of Bangladeshi institutions discourage large-scale investment or not. Salman F Rahman said that central bank along with other institutions has become quite strong and the country has a proper judicial system so only thing missing is foreign direct investment.

Throughout the interview Salman F Rahman indicated that Bangladesh is on the path of economic growth and will achieve a lot more in the years to come. He mentioned that the country maintained a 6% growth for last couples of years and worked on creating a strong business fundamental. He said the country is in a position to order large amount of Boeing jets and award gas concessions to world’s top companies including Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

Detailed information on Salman F Rahman can be found in this page.