Business Desk :
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Shams Mahmud has urged the importers of Pakistan to import more jute, jute goods, IT and IT enabled services, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, ready-made garments, leather and leather products and agro-food from Bangladesh.
The DCCI chief made the urge when High Commissioner of Pakistan to Bangladesh Imran Ahmed Siddiqui met him at the DCCI office yesterday (Wednesday), said a DCCI press release on Thursday.
The release said they discussed issues relating to bilateral trade and investment.
During the discussion, Shams said the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Pakistan was $543.90 million in the last fiscal year (FY20) out of which Bangladesh’s export to Pakistan was $50.54 million while Pakistan’s export to Bangladesh was $493.36 million.
He said there are opportunities to expedite the both-way trade and explore new avenues of investment, but for that the existing trade barriers need to be removed.
The DCCI president also urged the Pakistani High Commissioner to strengthen chamber to chamber relations, regular exchange of trade missions, organizing trade fairs, B2B and road-show to boost the bilateral trade.
“Easing business visa process and removing tariff and non-tariff barriers will also facilitate more business to business interactions,” he added.
The Pakistani envoy said Bangladesh has recently achieved tremendous growth in the IT and IT enabled services sector.
He urged Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan utilizing this capacity and skill.
He also requested Bangladeshi industrialists to import various industry raw materials and textiles from Pakistan.
The envoy said Bangladeshi investors in Pakistan can enjoy the advantage of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for reaching their goods to China, central Asia and Russia easily at a cheaper rate. He also emphasized on joint collaboration, especially in the research and technology/expertise transfer.
DCCI Senior Vice President NKA Mobin, Vice President Mohammad Bashiruddin, Commercial Secretary of Pakistan High Commission Muhammad Suleman Khan and Commercial Assistant Ghulam Nabi were also present, among others, at the meeting.
