2. Information for Dutch Companies
The Netherlands has a structural trade deficit with Bangladesh (see table 3). This trade pattern is common for Bangladesh with most of the European Union countries and the USA. On the other hand, Bangladesh has a huge trade deficit with India (both formal and informal).
Table 3 – Bilateral trade Netherlands–Bangladesh (2002 -2005) in mln Euro (source: CBS)
|
|
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
|
Import |
243.5 |
250.3 |
272.7 |
234.7 |
|
Export |
76.7 |
43.9 |
54.7 |
45.2 |
|
Balance |
-166.8 |
-206.4 |
-217.5 |
-189.5 |
When looking at the composition of the bilateral trade figures, the Netherlands mainly imports various manufactured good from Bangladesh, while exporting mostly machinery, transportation and chemicals (see table 4).
Table 4 – Compostion of Dutch import from and export to Bangladesh (source CBS)
Import
|
SITC code |
Description |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005
|
|
|
Total |
243.5 |
250.3 |
272.2 |
234.7 |
|
|
Total agriculture |
22.0 |
14.2 |
10.8 |
11.3 |
|
|
Total industry |
221.5 |
236.1 |
261.4 |
223.4 |
|
0 |
Food and live animals |
22.0 |
14.2 |
10.8 |
11.3 |
|
6 |
Manufactured goods |
12.0 |
10.9 |
13.1 |
14.9 |
|
7 |
Machinery and transportation |
7.3 |
5.2 |
4.8 |
3.0 |
|
8 |
Various manufactured goods (particularly RMG) |
201.8 |
219.5 |
242.1 |
202.8 |
Export
|
SITC code |
Description |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005
|
|
|
Total |
76.7 |
43.9 |
54.7 |
45.2 |
|
|
Total agriculture |
11.9 |
5.1 |
7.0 |
6.0 |
|
|
Total industry |
64.8 |
38.8 |
47.7 |
39.2 |
|
0 |
Food and live animals |
11.7 |
5.0 |
6.7 |
5.9 |
|
5 |
Chemicals |
15.6 |
14.1 |
5.7 |
10.6 |
|
6 |
Manufactured goods |
10.0 |
4.9 |
4.9 |
7.9 |
|
7 |
Machinery and transportation |
37.1 |
17.6 |
35.3 |
11.7 |
|
8 |
Various manufactured goods |
1.7 |
1.7 |
1.5 |
8.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow to Bangladesh6
FDI inflow to Bangladesh in 2005 was USD 845.3 million registering 83.6% growth over the previous year. The top investor countries in 2005 were UK (USD 152.8 million), USA (USD 141.8 million), Singapore (USD 97.5 million), UAE (USD 55.4 million) and Norway (USD 543.5 million). The Netherlands FDI was USD 15.4 million, making the Netherlands the 14th biggest FDI source in Bangladesh (17th place in 2004). Recently a lot of large conglomerates have shown interest to invest in Bangladesh, for example India’s Tata which expressed to invest up to USD 3 billion in Bangladesh. For more details see table 5 and figure 1.
Table 5 - FDI inflow in Bangladesh during 2005: Distribution by Source (in million USD)
|
FDI Sources |
2004 |
2005 |
2005 Share (%) |
2005 Rank |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
FDI-2004 |
Rank 2004 |
Jan-Jun |
Jul-Dec |
FDI-2005 |
|||
|
Canada |
0.4 |
23 |
- |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.08% |
25 |
|
China |
0.4 |
24 |
1.4 |
0.2 |
1.6 |
0.19% |
22 |
|
Denmark |
18.8 |
9 |
6.4 |
11.8 |
18.2 |
2.15% |
13 |
|
Egypt |
19.9 |
7 |
22.2 |
26.2 |
48.4 |
5.73% |
7 |
|
France |
0.7 |
22 |
0.9 |
0.8 |
1.7 |
0.20% |
20 |
|
Germany |
6.8 |
15 |
0.1 |
1.5 |
1.6 |
0.19% |
21 |
|
Hong Kong |
13.9 |
11 |
27.2 |
25.9 |
53.1 |
6.28% |
6 |
|
India |
6.8 |
16 |
0.8 |
1.9 |
2.7 |
0.32% |
18 |
|
Indonesia |
- |
28 |
- |
1.3 |
1.3 |
0.15% |
23 |
|
Japan |
30.0 |
5 |
33.8 |
12.7 |
46.5 |
5.50% |
8 |
|
Luxembourg |
3.0 |
19 |
- |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.05% |
27 |
|
Malaysia |
38.9 |
4 |
24.9 |
8.2 |
33.1 |
3.92% |
9 |
|
Nepal |
- |
29 |
0.1 |
- |
0.1 |
0.01% |
30 |
|
Netherlands |
8.8 |
13 |
8.4 |
7.0 |
15.4 |
1.82% |
14 |
|
Norway |
59.6 |
3 |
24.6 |
28.9 |
53.5 |
6.33% |
5 |
|
Pakistan |
3.8 |
17 |
18.0 |
7.5 |
25.5 |
3.02% |
12 |
|
Saudi Arabia |
- |
30 |
0.5 |
0.4 |
0.9 |
0.11% |
24 |