Both inbound and outbound foreign direct investment in Bangladesh declined in 2023 as global FDI fell amid an economic slowdown and rising geopolitical tensions.

FDI from Bangladesh dropped 43 percent year-on-year to $30 million last year, data from the UN Trade and Development showed today.

The outbound FDI stood at $53 million a year prior, according to the World Investment Report 2024. The outflow was $23 million in 2018, $28 million in 2019, $12 million in 2020, and $92 million in 2021.

The inflow of FDI to Bangladesh stood at $3 billion last year, down nearly 14 percent year-on-year from $3.48 billion a year ago. Still, last year's receipts were the second-highest in South Asia.

India's FDI plummeted to $28.16 billion against $49.38 billion in 2022. The inflow stood at $712 million for Sri Lanka, down from $884 million a year prior.

The Maldives received $1.42 billion against $1.5 billion in 2022.

Pakistan, Nepal, and Bhutan, however, posted a positive growth. For example, Pakistan wooed FDI worth $1.82 billion, which was $1.46 billion a year earlier. Nepal attracted $74 million in 2023 against $65 million in 2022.

According to the World Investment Report, global FDI fell 2 percent to $1.3 trillion in 2023 amid an economic slowdown and rising geopolitical tensions.

But the report highlights that the decline exceeds 10 percent when excluding the large swings in investment flows in a few European conduit economies.

The downturn in project finance affected sustainable development, with new funding for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) sectors dropping over 10 percent, particularly in agrifood and water. This hampers efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda and calls for urgent policy action to revamp sustainable development finance.

The report emphasises that business facilitation and digital government solutions can address low investment by creating a transparent and streamlined environment.

It highlights significant growth in online services and information portals, saying such tools also support broader digital government development, benefiting developing nations in particular.