The second research problem was based on the premise that Black Money or Undisclosed Income are finding its way in the Real Estate and therefore, it has spillover in the investment of the country. The specific title is : Undisclosed Money in Real Estate: Its Spillover on Investment. With Mr. Md. Shahnawaz Rafi as the principal investigator and Prof. Dr. Charles Villanueva as the Technical Adviser. In view of its controversial nature of the problem, the title underwent several changes, from underground economy to Black Money to White Money and at the time of the presentation it has adopted Undisclosed Money to avoid confusion and debate. The term was deemed operationally defined and used it interchangeably in this study. In view of the difficulty in gathering data, the title of the questionnaire was changed to White Money… however the contents were all about the intent of the study. This strategy was applied to appear positive in approach particularly to the target respondents. It is assumed that Black Money exists practically in every economy of the world, thus, in Bangladesh too. The existence can be either legal or illegal in form. In its legal form, it can be production and sale of goods, assets, etc by paying predetermined tax rate as in real estate. In developing economies, the government often provide the owner of white money a chance to declare its existence in public. In this light, the study aimed at examining the sources of real estate investment in Bangladesh; assess the size of black money in the real estate sector; and evaluate the impact of white money on investment in real estate sector. Specifically, it attempted to answer  these questions: how can the sources of investment in the real estate sector be classified in terms of nature, modes and volumes? how the injection of undisclosed money in real estate affect investment in the real estate sector? and what are the spillovers of this money over real estate investment? The study revealed that the high rate of interest is a detrimental factor to the growth of  the real estate sector; the acceleration of urbanization as shown in real estate contributes to the GDP growth of the country; those who are investing in real estate is obviously the rich middle class and very rich (although there is an observation that even the low-middle income especially working in the government owned real estates); the price of real estate by square feet in the last 5 years is 4001-5000Tk and the average interest ranges from 16-20 percent; investing in real estate sector for seeking tax benefits is the perceived to be best mode of converting black money into white using the informal channel and issuing checks through banks; in one year’s time or during the submission of income tax return is the appropriate time for whitening black money; it was statistically significant that the injection of black money in the real estate can  contribute to the growth of the real estate and therefore the investment climate as a whole. In consonance with these findings, the study suggested four (4) major recommendations: promulgate a comprehensive policy on tax holiday/tax amnesty/tax exemption and other modes by the government; channel more and more undisclosed money in the real estate at no harm on the existing firms in this sector; better monitoring and supervision of the investment using black money; no discrimination between a regular customer and an express customer with black money; adopt proper guidelines on both dissemination and advocacy of policy on scope of utilizing black money with safeguards for the holders of these money.

The third research paper gave importance or recognition to some auxiliary or not really major factors but perceived to contribute to the investment climate in Bangladesh. The study highlights Ports and Customs with Dr. AKM Matiur Rahman as the principal investigator and Prof. Dr. Charles C. Villanueva as the technical adviser. The title is : “Contributions of Auxiliary Factors to Investment Climate in Bangladesh: A Study on Ports and Customs”. Specifically, it attempted to answer the following questions: what are the factors that contribute to the investment-climate in Bangladesh? how significant are these factors such as effective ports and efficient customs in influencing the creation of a conducive investment climate? what are the problems/constraints that hinder the contribution of these factors to investment climate? what are the potential interventions to sustain the impact of these factors? To provide answer to these questions, the views of the  investors group and the professionals were collected. Comparing the views of the investors and professionals, they both strongly agree on the following factors: higher incentives should be given to the port and customs officials; the existence of obstacles in doing business in Bangladesh; shortage of customs officials and lack of proper training; establishment of R & D Project CPA to help maritime communities; introduction of competitive and performance based services at port; and others. The respondents likewise expressed their views on various issues related to ports such as: Management problems such inefficiency, overstaffing, labor strikes, lack of skills; labor issues on workers political affiliation  and  engaging in blockade and strike; corruption and vested interest; high cost of service; illegal collection of tolls; lack of security; lack of power supply and lack of integration.  As regards customs, the following issues were raised: lengthy and complicated procedures in obtaining clearance; lack of training by the staff; misuse of green channel; lack of monitoring; dispersed services and improper auditing system. In response to the findings of the study, the researcher advanced the following recommendations: service improvement system to reduce red tapes; require participation in training program; raise salary and benefits to the employees; overhaul ports service in areas of control berthing movement of vessels, navigation and cargo handling; introduce competitive and performance based services; centralize or unify services under one authority; voluntary pre-shipment inspection; establish R & D Project; establish one stop service; system’s review or audit of the entire operation and upgrade and expand automated system operation.

The Research Colloquium  was held last 28 October 2010 in the AIUB’s Auditorium attended by participants coming from the funding organizations, from the academe particularly the 4 participating universities such as BRAC, NSU, IUB and East-West , from the government agencies, nongovernment agencies, Deans,  professors of research, department heads, and  key officials of AIUB.    The honorable Vice Chancellor of AIUB, Dr. Carmen Z. Lamagna warmly welcomed the participants and guests. Ms. Laura Watson , Program manager of BIFC and Advisor of IFC-World Bank in south Asia delivered an address recognizing     the efforts of AIUB in undertaking this laudable event. Dr. Zahid Hossain, one of the special guests, a Senior Economist of World Bank  underscored the importance of the researches as these are valuable inputs to the government policy formulation effort to create conducive investment climate of the country and to concerned international organizations to design interventions in promoting the same thrust. He further informed the audience that the country is on its right path to surpass its  GDP target. The UGC is represented by Prof. Muhibur Rahman who has a rich and wide  experience in field of research. He emphasized the cultivation of research in the universities. Every presentation by the researcher was followed by intellectual exchange allowing the participants to interact and raise questions and observation to clarify issues emerging from the research.  The 2- hour colloquium was capped with the brief recapitulation of the 3 researches by Prof. Anwar Hossain. The expression of profound thanks and grateful appreciation was conveyed by Ms. Dulce Lamagna, Executive Secretary of the ICRU.  The colloquium ended with bright prospects for future research and  other related interventions for the academe to continue its role in promoting investment climate in Bangladesh .