Staff Reporter :
Establishing a diplomatic mission of Romania in Dhaka will foster bilateral trade and investment as well as exporting of skilled workforce from Bangladesh to Romania, speakers said.
Romania has been a proven export destination of Bangladesh for long and the bilateral trade between the two countries hovers around $49.97 million of which Bangladesh imports $27.39 million, they said.
The information was disclosed at a dialogue on “Exploring Trade and Investment Opportunities Between Bangladesh and Romania” organized by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) on Tuesday.
Speaking at the dialogue, Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) urged the government of Romania to establish their diplomatic mission in Dhaka that will foster bilateral trade relation to a new height.
Hopping for an intense trade relationship between the two countries, he said, exchange of visit between the business communities is more important.
He also said that both-way tourism can be a game changer in terms of bilateral trade relation.
Claiming Bangladesh has world’s best skilled construction workers, he requested Romanian entrepreneurs to hire our skilled workers.
He also urged the Romanian investors to invest in the economic zones of Bangladesh to avail profit repatriation facility to the foreign investors.
DCCI President Rizwan Rahman has said that the government of Bangladesh is now emphasising on intensifying economic diplomacy prioritising global integration.
“The trade needs to grow with a win-win situation exploiting new opportunities to expand economic cooperation in many dimensions,” he said.
He requested Romanian businessmen to source furniture, plastic, pharmaceutical, ship, jute, leather products and RMG from Bangladesh at a relatively competitive price.
Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT), signed in 1987, can be implemented to allow Romanian investors to invest in our rewarding and competitive economic zones in the aforesaid sectors including the automobile sector, Rizwan said.
Robert Negoita, Mayor of the 3rd District of Bucharest of Romania, urged for a reciprocal relationship among the business community of both the countries.
“Romania can be the gateway of Europe to Bangladesh and to avail this opportunity investing in Romania will boost Bangladesh’s export to Europe,” he added.
He said that they can provide agriculture products and technology to Bangladesh and textiles products of Bangladesh have a good opportunity in Romania. Lawmaker Benjir Ahmed, former President of BAIRA said, “After the RMG, remittance is the second largest earning source for Bangladesh. We are ready to export skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workforce to Romania.”
BKMEA’s Senior Vice President Mansoor Ahmed, NSDA’s Member Md Nurul Amin and DCCI Senior Vice President Arman Haque, among others, spoke on the occasion.
