DHAKA, Jan 28, 2021 (BSS) – Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday said
that Bangladesh welcomes German business ventures to set up factories in the
special economic zones (SEZs).
The Commerce Minister said this while addressing an international webinar
on “Prospect or Problem? Post Covid-19 Economic Relations between Bangladesh
& Germany” as the chief guest organized by Bangladesh-German Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (BGCCI).
The webinar was actively participated by reputed personalities both from
Bangladesh and Germany, said a press release today.
Tipu appreciated the German experts’ suggestions to further enhance the
trade and commerce between Bangladesh and Germany.
He also suggested that once the Covid-19 situation improves, the
Ministry of Commerce along with BGCCI will send Business Delegation to
Germany.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Germany Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan spoke as the
guest of honor.
The international discussants – MarckWengrzik, Managing Director of AKA
Export Credit; Christine Jordan, Head of Structured Export Finance, Standard
Chartered Bank AG; Anubhuti Sahay, Head of South Asia Economics Research,
Standard Chartered Singapore; MiroslawPanek, Head of Structured Finance,
Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. were the keynote presenters.
The Bangladeshi discussants included Dr. Rubana Huq, President, BGMEA;
Prof. Mustafizur Rahman of CPD; Syed Nasim Manzur, MD, APEX; Naser EzazBijoy,
CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh; Zafar Sobhan, Editor, Dhaka Tribune
and Javed M. Ahmad, CEO, APROSOFT Boston.
BGCCI President, Omar Sadat briefed about the activities of BGCCI and its
role during the Covid-19.
International participants from Germany suggested ways and means to revive
the trade between Bangladesh and Germany.
Bangladesh Ambassador in Germany Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan stated that
Germany is the largest export destination of Bangladesh in Europe.
He mentioned about a German garments manufacturing company UBF’s allotment
of land at Adamjee EPZ to set up a factory by the facilitation of the
Bangladesh Embassy in Germany.
He said there is immense opportunity to grow business between the two
countries. He also said with the ease of the Covid-19 situation, the Embassy
will welcome the BGCCI delegation.
BGMEA President Dr Rubana Huq said that Germany is the only country where
Bangladesh’s export post-June 2020 grew and the majority of the export was
based on manmade fiber-based products.
She expects German companies to invest in the manmade fibers business as
this sector is growing rapidly. Rubana also urged the German investors to
invest in the polyester staple fiber, light engineering sector in Bangladesh
as these sectors are also growing.
Prof Mustafizur Rahman of CPD in his remarks informed that the German
economy is set to rebound in 2021 and 2022 while Bangladesh will see a rise
in export to Germany.
Mentioning that German foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh is low,
he said there is huge opportunity for German investment here through ensuring
proper use of preferential access that Bangladesh enjoys in the EU.
Mustfizur also mentioned in setting up country-specific economic zones in
Bangladesh which will help to increase FDI in Bangladesh.
President of BGCCI Omar Sadat said that BGCCI is working closely with the
business ventures to meet the challenges of Covid-19 and to move forward.
He said the international webinar is yet another mechanism to learn from
the German experts to cope with the business.