"The economic power will shift from US to Asia. And China and India are emerging as major economic players in the Asian region. So, these two giants will create tremendous demand for various products and services," Smith told The Daily Star in a recent interview in Dhaka.

"Domestic demand of these countries will be huge which will provide ample scope for Bangladesh to grow with the two giants," he added.

He also observed that labour market of Bangladesh gives it a special competitive edge in taking advantages of growth of the two giant neighbours.

The 21st century will be the century for Asia while the previous one was for the USA and the 19th was the century for the European Union, the HSBC top official commented.

"We think the banking assets in China will overtake USA's probably in about fifteen years. So, you can reap benefit from that changed scenario," he said, suggesting urgent development of Bangladesh's infrastructure, port facilities and power supply in order to prepare itself in every way for introducing its products to Indian and Chinese markets.

Chief executive officer of the bank also laid emphasis on technological development of the country for being a beneficiary of the global market system.

On HSBC's operation in Bangladesh, he spelt out its expansion plan saying "if an acquisition opportunity comes up, we will put our efforts in opening more branches across the country."

Considering the whole world a single market place, Smith, who has a vast experience of working in Hong Kong, said, "Everybody should try to be competitive."

"Bangladesh has to realise that it is a part of the global economy whether it likes globalisation or not. Any sort of national protectionism normally backfires," he observed.

He, however, described Bangladesh's present economic growth as satisfactory and suggested developing a proper and workable legal system to ensure a higher growth.

A proper legal infrastructure is key to attracting foreign investment, he opined. In this connection he also lamented that many developing countries underestimate the importance of legal system to lure FDI.

"Australia and Canada did better than Brazil and Argentina in sustaining economic growth as they developed a supervisory legal system," he said.

Dwelling on Bangladesh's banking sector, he said it needs to attain international standard to function as a strong player in the global economy.

"As banks reflect a country's economy, you have to emphasise international standards in accounting, compliance and corporate governance for a developed banking system", Smith went on, lauding Bangladesh Bank's recent measures for reforms in the sector.

"But the problem is when this regulator decides on something, another problem arises." he pointed out.

While focusing on the country's capital market, the HSBC CEO said,"Development of the stock market is overemphasised for the future of the economy. But this market is very simple here as people do not try for new financial products, they are very happy with what they have. This is not a very efficient way to utilise one's own capital."

The central bank should give some guidelines to boost both the capital and bond markets, he also suggested.

When asked about operations of private commercial banks in Bangladesh, he said some sort of consolidation has to accrue as quite a big number of such banks are in operation.

"Successful people sometimes want to do banking business. But I think we probably need to look forward to consolidation in this market. I am sure that will happen."

Turning to politics, Smith said political stability is a crucial factor for economic growth in a country. Giving an example, he said the UK, US, Hong Kong and Australia have achieved economic success, thanks to strong legal systems and political stability.

When enquired about the HSBC secret of success in Bangladesh, the CEO said his bank has been operating for ten years here. It moved slowly in the beginning, but in the last three years it recorded enormous growth, he asserted, saying HSBC values trust, strength, confidence, honesty and quality which people like.

"Quality is a way of success. Success depends on services and institutional framework. But initially we got staffers who were not that familiar with the HSBC system. So, people had been sent to UK, US and Hong Kong to be trained up and this training really helped," Smith maintained.

The HSBC CEO found enormous potentiality in Bangladeshi people. He said, "I have been very impressed with the education, ability and potentiality of Bangladeshis."

"Bangladesh is a home of the real talents that we can use globally," he said with conviction.