DHAKA: Taiwanese textile entrepreneurs are keen on investing in Bangladesh because of high profit potential, says Roland Tsai, leading Taiwanese textile baron.

Tsai, who visited the country a couple of times during the past one year, is now convinced that after China and India, Bangladesh is the best place for investing in textile and garment manufacturing, the Financial Express reported here on Thursday (Nov 18).

The Taiwanese government and the Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF) had studied the investment potential of Bangladesh through several fact-finding missions early this year.

During the Taiwan Business Alliance, a biannual forum of investors held in Taiwan last week, its minister of economic affairs urged the Taiwanese investors to look for investment destinations other than China.

The recent dip in relations between Taipei and Beijing has prompted a rethinking about overseas investment operation by Taiwanese businesses.

Taiwanese investors have poured in over $100 billion in mainland since China started opening up its economy in 1979. They have set up over 60,000 industries, employing millions of Chinese.

But lately, the huge investment has become a cause of worry for the government because it feels that a "too much fruits in a single basket" could unsettle the equation, the newspaper reported.

Quoting Justin Huang, a textile expert and now the deputy secretary general of the TTF in Taiwan, the newspaper reported most of the Taiwanese investors did not have any idea about Bangladesh even a year ago.

"Obviously, in my view Bangladesh is very much on top of their mind now," Huang was quoted.

Indo-Asian News Service