The officials of the group owned by Al Nahayan royal family will hold talks with Post and Telecommunications Minister Aminul Haque, Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fakhruddin Ahmed, Executive Chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI) Mahmudur Rahman and other high government and private sector officials during their five-day visit.

The proposal of the UAE group is the second largest investment plan by a single investor in Bangladesh's history after India's Tata Group which is doing preliminary works to implement its $2 billion investment in steel, power and fertiliser sectors.

A high official of BoI said the six-member delegation led by the group's Chief Executive Officer Bashir A Taher will meet BoI chief today to scrutinise the pros and cons of the investment plan.

Last year Dhabi Group wrote to BoI expressing its interest in investing in telecommunications, oil refinery, infrastructure, bank and tourism sectors. Following the letter, BoI formally invited the group to come to Bangladesh for negotiations.

During the current visit, the team will hold talks with central bank officials on the issue of acquisition of Bangladesh operations of the Shamil Bank of Bahrain by Bank Alfalah, a concern of Dhabi Group.

The group also plans to take part in Bangladesh's rapidly growing telecoms market through its telecoms business arm Warid Telecom, BoI sources said.

Parvez A Shahid, CEO of Bank Alfalah, Ali Al Awais, CEO of Warid International-Abu Dhabi, Marwan Zawaydah, advisor of board of directors of Dhabi Group, Ahmed Muktar, corporate architect of Bank Alfalah comprise of the delegation. Name of another delegation member could not be known.

A BoI official said initially the UAE group intended to invest in oil refinery sector. As the sector is reserved for government corporation, it plans to invest in bank, telecoms and infrastructure sectors.

“The group is serious about its investment plan in Bangladesh as it has got plans to make its increased presence felt in South Asian countries to serve the fast growing consumer market," the official said.

After completion of the visit, the delegation will prepare a report and present it to its chairman Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, a member of the royal family, and other consortium members of the group to pave a way for giving the proposal a final shape.