Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Leaders of different trade bodies have called upon the visiting Canadian businessmen to invest more in Bangladesh’s prospective sectors like garments, agriculture, agro-processing, food-processing, telecom and tourism.
Speaking at a seminar titled ‘Business Development opportunities in Bangladesh’, they said both Bangladesh and Canada could boost two-way trade by utilizing the advantage of earlier’s trained and cheap labour force.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Canada Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CanCham) jointly organized the seminar at the city’s Hotel Sonargaon on Monday.
The seminar was organized on the sidelines of the concluding session of the two-day Canada Showcase-2012.
President of International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICCB) Mahbubur Rahman chaired the seminar.
President of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Maj Gen Amjad Khan Chowdhury (Retd) said Bangladesh belongs to a large market size. Bangladesh’s institutional capacity and legal framework are favourable for investment, said the he informed.
President of American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) Aftab ul Islam said Bangladesh has strong geographical advantage.
He also said that Bangladesh is surrounded by three emerging market like India, China and other ASEAN countries.
Mr. Islam also invited the Canadian investors and entrepreneurs to invest in the IT enabled services in Bangladesh.
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim said that 2012 has been marked the 40th anniversary of Canada Bangladesh relation.
He informed the Canadian trade delegation that Bangladesh has trainable, enthusiastic, hardworking and low-cost labour force suitable for any labour intensive industry.
CanCham president Masud Rahman, giving the welcome speech, said that Bangladesh has huge prospect for Canadian investment. The bilateral trade volume between Bangladesh and Canada is on the rise, he added.
Chief Executive Officer of Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, Canada Steve McLellan said that both the countries could share expertise of Canada on agriculture, technology and municipal management. He also stressed on enhancing Chamber to Chamber relation and know-how.
Senior Research Fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Golam Moazzem presented the keynote paper where he showed that the business pattern of Bangladesh is turning into manufacturing industry.
BBN/SSR/SI-06Mar12-8:30 am (BST)
