Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman yesterday asked non-resident Bangladeshis not to confine their focus to any particular zone for investment, but to think of Bangladesh as a whole to make investment.

"Bangladesh should be a point of reference, rather than any particular zone. The opportunities are coming for investment in new areas like shipbuilding," Hossain Zillur Rahman told a seminar at Dhaka Regency hotel yesterday.

Lauding the contribution of NRBs to the country's economy, the adviser said there was a time people left their country, but decades later the brain drain turned into a brain gain.

"For us, the diasporas is the important resources...mobilising the diasporas is the key element in development. For China, success was because of the engagement of the Chinese diasporas in the development process," he maintained.

Bangladesh-British Chamber of Commerce (BBCC) organised the seminar on "The Role of UK/EU Investors in relation to the Special Economic Zone in Sylhet" marking the visit of a 47-member business delegation from the UK. Most of the members of the delegation are NBRs (non-resident Bangladeshis), especially from Sylheti origin.

BBCC Chairman Shahagir Bakth Faruk chaired the seminar where British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Stephen Niculas Evans, former ambassador Mofazzal Karim, Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Manzurul Alam, Executive Chairman of Board of Investment (BoI) Kamaluddin Ahmed, President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Annisul Huq, Chairman of Seamark Limited Iqbal Ahmed and Senior Vice President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Shekil Ahmed spoke.

Evans urged the BBCC for playing a proactive role in seeking out new business on the backdrop of global financial turmoil.

He said the BBCC can play an important role in establishing bilateral business relationship between UK and Bangladesh as such relationship is a key to increasing the two- way flow of investment.

"The government has a crucial role to improve the infrastructure in Sylhet. It needs to improve the telecommunication facility there," Evans said.

He also advised the visiting trade delegation to meet with the heads of major political parties to describe their future investment plan at SEZs in Bangladesh.

Evans said The UK is one of the largest investors in Bangladesh with approximately 1.5 billion pound sterling. The UK companies active in the market include Cairn Energy, Standard Chartered, HSBC, Unilever, British American Tobacco, Tesco, M & S, Finlays, High Point Rendell, GSK and Duncan Brothers.

"Increasingly, British Bangladeshis are investing in their ancestral home," Evans said.

He said Seamarks, Euro Foods, Total Foods, FCI, Britannia Properties, Dhaka Regency Hotel and United Airlines are all good examples of Bangladeshi business acumen and entrepreneurship.

"We have already urged the Bangladesh Bank (BB) to make it a basket of dollars, pounds and some other influential currencies so that we can convert the currencies easily," Annisul Huq said.

Huq said this is the right time to come up here with ideas and money for investment.

He urged the BoI to make an effective one stop service centre for the convenience of NRBs or other direct investors.

Manzurul Alam said the opportunities of investment in telecom sector in Bangladesh are enormous. "The country expects the total subscribers of telephone to cross 70million within 2012. Bangladesh is an enticing market for ICT," he said.

“The call centres may be a lucrative area for the NRBs' investment," Alam said.