‘Bangladesh deserves more investor attention now’

The Bangladesh market is small and illiquid, but, like India two decades ago or Vietnam a decade ago, it offers prospects for significant long-term capital appreciation driven by earnings growth, the HSBC said in its global research.

"We believe Bangladesh deserves more investor attention, as it resembles where India and Vietnam were a while back."

Today, the British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London disclosed its global research paper on Bangladesh titled "The Flying Dutchman".

One of the most startling projections for the country is that it is on track to become a major consumer market by 2030, on HSBC estimates, ahead of Vietnam or the Philippines.

That's on top of rising foreign investments, not just from garment makers, but also from Indian conglomerates and global tech giants such as Samsung Electronics, as well as Chinese firms.

Plus, employment is rising, and there are healthy remittances and good exports.

Another upsides of the country is earnings of the private sector set to grow by around 20 percent in the next three years, according to an estimates of HSBC's global research.

It, however, says "Risks include rising inflation, floor price restrictions on stocks—which dent investor Confidence—a volatile currency, and potential political instability."

On the flip side of the potential in Bangladesh's equity market and economy, climate change is a key risk for the development of Bangladesh.

As more than 50 percent of the population is under 25, so Bangladesh needs to invest in education that better equips its people for skills-intensive jobs, so that they do not fall behind by focusing on low-tech garment work.