Bangladesh categorises tourism as an export-oriented industry being scoped within the ‘Thrust Sector’ for securing special facilities and venture capital support. Tourism is an industry that covers many social and economic fields, and comprises one of the deepest value chains among all industries, creating a great growth vector. In FY2019-20, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) allocated BDT 34 billion for Civil Aviation (Biman Bangladesh). At the same time, the allocation for the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism (MoCAT) was doubled to BDT 78 Billion, which was a reflection of GoB’s willingness to invest and develop the tourism industry. The Government of Bangladesh encourages private investments through credit facilities, tax incentives, repatriation facilities of dividends, permanent residence on investing US$ 75,000 and citizenship on investing US$ 500,000, and depreciation allowances, among other benefits. The rising purchasing power of a growing middle-class population, considered to be larger than many European and East Asian countries, also put Bangladesh at the vantage point of tapping into a huge domestic tourism market.
Session Objective
• Highlighting the potential of the tourism sector and identify the relevant sub-sectors and opportunities each of them offer.
• Highlighting the current facilities, services, and infrastructure of the tourism sector and the improvements plans/needs.
• Highlight need/opportunities for FDI in the tourism sector
• Shed light on creating supply chain linkage to enable SME participation in tourism sector
