‘Bangladesh should invest in Kenya to get access to African nations’

Bangladeshi entrepreneurs should invest in Kenya's agriculture and ICT sectors to get access to the other African countries as it is a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and East African Community (EAC).

Moi Lemoshia, director general for bilateral and political affairs of the Kenyan government, made the call as the leader of a 10-member Kenyan delegation in a meeting with the officials of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).

The meeting was held at DCCI's Gulshan Centre in Dhaka on July 25.

"Kenya has a warm diplomatic relation with Bangladesh. Now we want to turn it into a good trade relation," he said.

He also proposed establishing a joint trade commission to accelerate bilateral trade and identify the bottlenecks.

Lemoshia suggested going for joint collaboration in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector as economy of both the countries are driven by the SMEs.

For technology transfer and training, he urged for private sector's strong partnership and chamber to chamber relation.

Monowar Hossain, acting president of the DCCI, said Bangladesh is a suitable place for investment.

Regular exchange of business delegation, B2Bs with the SMEs of Bangladesh and Kenya and regular trade exhibition will open up new window of opportunities, he said.

"If the private and public sectors of both the countries can work together with shared objectives, we can create more bilateral trade and investment opportunities enhancing the insignificant bilateral trade of only $24.80 million."

Huge infrastructure development is going on in Bangladesh, said Khairul Majid Mahmud, director of the DCCI.

He urged the Kenyan importers to take jute and jute goods from Bangladesh.

Businesses should go for contract farming over there, he said and highlighted the importance of establishing Kenyan mission in Dhaka, direct air connectivity between Dhaka and Nairobi and easing visa process.

Tareque Muhammad, high commissioner of Bangladesh in Nairobi, and the members of the board of directors of the DCCI were also present in the meeting.