PM Tarique pitches ‘open for business’ Bangladesh to Wall Street heavyweights at JPMorgan roundtable
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has pitched Bangladesh to some of Wall Street’s biggest investors as an emerging destination for global capital.
At a JPMorgan-hosted roundtable in New York on Friday, Tarique met leading asset managers, private-equity firms and institutional investors.
He said his government was seeking long-term investment rather than “short-term transactions,” while promising greater predictability and a more investor-friendly business environment.
“Bangladesh is open for business,” Tarique said, setting out his government’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy by 2034.
The meeting brought together executives from BlackRock, PIMCO, TPG, Jane Street, Macquarie, GoldenTree Asset Management, MetLife and several private-capital firms, according to an attendee list seen by Daily Waadaa.
It followed a bilateral meeting between Tarique and Troy Rohrbaugh, co-president of JPMorgan Chase and chief executive of its Consumer and Community Banking business.
The discussions focused on international investment and capital flows into Bangladesh, financial-market development, geopolitical tensions, commodity prices and macroeconomic stability, according to a JPMorgan statement.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Tanvir Ghani, special assistant to the prime minister for investment and capital markets, and Ashik Chowdhury, executive chairman of Invest Bangladesh Authority, joined Tarique at the event.
JPMorgan’s senior hosts included Rohrbaugh; Masha Gloukhovski, global head of the Public Sector Group; and Karl Yeh, head of Public Sector Coverage for Asia Pacific.
BlackRock, PIMCO, TPG among investors in the room
The investor list showed representatives from 15 major financial institutions and investment firms spanning equities, private credit, infrastructure, emerging-market debt, growth capital and public markets.
BlackRock was represented by Christopher Daniels, head of Equity Capital Markets, while Carbon Growth Partners was represented by chief executive Rich Gilmore.
Farallon Capital Management’s Thomas Roberts, vice chair and managing member, and GoldenTree Asset Management partner and head of emerging markets Matias Silvani attended.
I Squared was represented by operating director Govinda Avasarala, while Jane Street sent Matthew Des Sarma, global macro strategy and trading.
JPMorgan Asset Management was represented by Timothy Morris, managing director for EMEA equities.
Macquarie had two representatives at the roundtable — David Agnew, government affairs, and senior managing director Jenny Chan.
Private-capital representation included Mesarete Capital partner Andrew Levin and Alexander Moseley, head of private credit at Mesarete Capital.
MetLife portfolio manager for emerging-markets debt Tom Smith was also on the attendee list.
PIMCO was represented by chief executive Manny Roman and portfolio manager Yacov Arnopolin, while TPG was represented by partner Marc Mezcinisky.
The range of participants reflected the government's effort to attract capital beyond conventional foreign direct investment, including private credit, infrastructure financing, growth equity and portfolio investment.
Tarique acknowledged the difference between addressing investors and speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, where he delivered his maiden address a day earlier.
“I am not from Wall Street,” he told the gathering. “I come here as a Bangladeshi, and as a political leader entrusted with serving the interests of my people.”
But he said governments and investors shared a basic obligation.
“You are here to serve the interests of your businesses and your investors. I am here to serve the interests of Bangladesh and its people,” he said. “Our responsibilities are different, but the principle is the same: we both have to deliver.”
Tarique said his experience in business before entering politics had taught him that “investment needs confidence, predictability and the right conditions to grow.”
Bangladesh, he said, could offer investors a domestic market of more than 180 million people, a young workforce and a strategic geographic position.
While garments and manufacturing remained core strengths, he identified energy, infrastructure, logistics, technology, digital services, climate finance, agriculture and healthcare as areas offering investment opportunities.
“Our ambition is to build a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2034 and position Bangladesh as a globally connected manufacturing, investment and services hub,” Tarique said.
‘Investors ultimately judge a country by what happens after the speech’
The prime minister sought to address some of the longstanding concerns foreign investors have raised over Bangladesh’s business environment, promising deregulation, stronger investor protection, simpler regulations, improvements in tax and VAT administration, easier profit repatriation and better infrastructure.
“You want to know whether regulations are predictable, whether investments are protected, whether capital can move efficiently, and whether profits can be repatriated,” Tarique said. “These are legitimate questions.”
“Our responsibility is to provide confidence through policy and, most importantly, through implementation.”
He also pointed to Bangladesh’s widening network of economic relationships, citing the Reciprocal Trade Agreement with the United States, new economic arrangements with Japan and South Korea, a new partnership with the European Union and stronger economic ties with China.
Bangladesh and the United States signed their Agreement on Reciprocal Trade on February 9.
Under its terms, Washington maintains a 19% reciprocal tariff on most Bangladeshi originating goods while providing a mechanism under which specified volumes of textile and apparel exports can qualify for a zero reciprocal tariff, linked to Bangladesh’s purchases of US textile inputs.
Bangladesh, in turn, made commitments covering market access, non-tariff barriers, digital trade, labour protections, intellectual property, environmental enforcement, customs procedures and regulatory practices.
Tarique also highlighted JPMorgan’s role in Bangladesh’s inaugural sovereign bond, describing it as a milestone that could give global investors a new reference point for the country and bring its capital markets closer to the international financial system.
But he cautioned that headline transactions and investment pitches would not themselves determine investor confidence.
“I understand that investors ultimately judge a country by what happens after the speech,” he said.
“We are not looking for short-term transactions. We want long-term partnerships that create value for both sides.”
Tarique invited Wall Street firms not only to invest directly in Bangladesh but also to consider the country as a base for serving a broader regional market.
The government's objectives, he said, were “more investment. More trade. More jobs. More technology. And a stronger economic partnership between Bangladesh and the United States.”
“I invite you to invest with confidence and build for the long term,” Tarique said. “We are ready to work with you, listen to you and remove obstacles where we can.”
During the separate meeting with Rohrbaugh, Tarique expressed appreciation for JPMorgan’s financial strength and international reach and urged the bank to expand its role in connecting Bangladesh with global finance, according to JPMorgan’s statement.
The two discussed geopolitical developments and their effect on commodity markets as well as the importance of macroeconomic stability for developing financial markets.
Rohrbaugh recognised Bangladesh’s economic growth potential and reaffirmed JPMorgan’s “long-term commitment” to the country, according to the statement.
The bank was ready to use its global network and expertise to support Bangladesh’s economic transformation and strengthen the country’s access to international capital markets, the statement quoted him as saying.
Rohrbaugh was appointed co-president of JPMorgan Chase in June and also became chief executive of Consumer and Community Banking. He previously served as co-chief executive of the bank’s Commercial and Investment Bank.
The New York roundtable formed part of Tarique’s series of high-level engagements during his US visit for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
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