The Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) was established on the 1st of July 1963 in the port city of Chittagong under the name and style of the “Agrabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry” (‘Agrabad’ being the name of the commercial hub of the city) with the initiative of the foreign companies located in and around Chittagong. It may be mentioned here that, at that point of time, most of the foreign companies, mainly British, had their establishments located in that region of the country.

Subsequently, after the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign and independent country in 1971, it was felt that the Chamber’s office should be shifted to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh for practical reasons and that the name of the Chamber should be suitably changed in order to include foreign companies located outside Chittagong region. Accordingly, in June 1987 the Chamber assumed its present name i.e. the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry and had its office shifted to Dhaka from Chittagong.

FICCI is affiliated with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI) as an ‘A’ class Chamber and is a founder member of the Bangladesh chapter of the Paris based International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICC-B). The Chamber maintains regular communications with the International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Paris.

The Chamber is represented in various Consultative and Advisory Committees of different government ministries and agencies and has been able to establish itself as an organisation to be reckoned with.

Companies having a minimum of 50% foreign share holding in their equity and/or 100% management control in case the percentage of foreign share holding is less than 50 are eligible for ‘Ordinary’ membership of the Chamber and those having less than 50% foreign share holding in their equity are eligible for ‘Associate’ membership.

The members of FICCI are some of the biggest corporate powerhouses in the country. At present, the Chamber comprises 188 members, operating in a wide spectrum of manufacturing, trading and service businesses and has been playing a catalytic role in the development of Bangladesh.