ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman said on Thursday stagnant private investment and weak institutional capacity are foremost challenges to achieve higher economic growth.
"The foremost challenges lie with stagnant private investment followed by weak institutional capacity to implement development projects," he said while presenting the Executive Board Report at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC )Bangladesh Annual Council, held in the capital.
Mr Rahman said Bangladesh faces formidable challenges in moving to a higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth path of 8.0 per cent plus to become a middle-income country, says a press release of the organisation.
"To achieve its goal of middle-income country status by 2021 and to accelerate inclusive growth as well as to reduce poverty and income inequality, the country will require a substantial increase in yearly investments from 29 per cent of GDP in FY 2015 to 34.4 per cent of GDP by FY 2020," said the ICC Bangladesh president.
Bangladesh economy embraced 2017 with some other challenges that include declining remittance and rising non-performing loans from the domestic side.
"Volatile global and gulf region politics and troubled European economy pose threats as external sources."
Following the European debt crisis and depreciation of different currencies against the US dollar, the pace of recovery of the European Union economies — the primary destination of Bangladeshi exports — will be critical in 2017, the Council Report added.
According to a World Bank report, Bangladesh is both an inspiration and a challenge for policymakers and practitioners of development. While the poverty reduction efforts to date have been extraordinary, the country faces daunting challenges with about 28 million people still living below the poverty line.
"The country is at an important juncture, when with the right policies and timely action it can move up within the middle-income bracket," said Mr Rahman.
However, Bangladesh economy is moving on a stable path, despite external and internal challenges. With positive near-term macro-economic outlook, declining inflation, rising reserve, contained fiscal deficit and stable public debt indicate brighter prospects, the Council Report said.
Bangladesh is among the top 12 developing countries, which achieved 6.0 percent plus growth in 2016, and one of the top performers in Asia over the past decade.
According to experts, by any standards Bangladesh economy is doing well, and the country's economic and social achievements are widely acclaimed around the world, said the ICC Bangladesh President.
The Council adopted the Executive Board Report and Audited Financial Statements of ICC Bangladesh for the year 2016.
ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman also presented congratulating memento to Envoy Group Chairman Kutubuddin Ahmed and  Meghna Group Chairman Mostafa Kamal for receiving DHL-The Daily Star Business Award as Business Person of the Year 2016 and Enterprise of the Year 2016 respectively.
Among others, ICCB Vice Presidents Latifur Rahman and Rokia A Rahman, and ICCB Board Members Aftab ul Islam, Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury (Parvez), Md Fazlul Hoque, Kutubuddin Ahmed, Mir Nasir Hossain and R Maksud Khan, MCCI Vice President Golam Mainuddin, ICCB Members  Sajedul Islam, Francois de Maricourt, Md Hashem Chowdhury, Choudhury Moshtaq Ahmed, Md Akhter Hossain, Md Majibur Rahman, Md Khalilur Rahman, Syed Moinuddin Ahmed, Khawza Manzer Nadeem, Rubaiyat Jamil, Basirun Nabi Khan, Rizwan-Ur Rahman, Mohammad Shahjahan Khan, Sandeep Gujral, Syed Waseque Md Ali, Md Abdul Jabbar, Muhammad A (Rumee) Ali, Parveen Mahmud, FCA, and Mostafa Kamal, attended the council.
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Source: The Financial Express