‘Bangladesh always ready to welcome you’
The Bangladesh Business Summit 2023 began yesterday to showcase the country's potentials to global investors.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the three-day event, urging the international business community to invest in Bangladesh as the country will be a developed, prosperous, and smart one by 2041, reports BSS.
"Bangladesh is always ready to welcome you. Invest in Bangladesh thinking that it is your country," she said.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) organised the event at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital, marking its 50th founding anniversary.
The ministries of foreign affairs, commerce, and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) have partnered with the FBCCI for the event.
The organisers are highlighting that Bangladesh's economy has been growing annually by around 6 percent for two decades. The country is set to graduate to a developing country by 2026. And it is expected to become the ninth largest consumer market by 2030.
A documentary screened at the event showed how Bangladesh aims to be an upper middle-income country by 2031 and a developed one by 2041.
Bangladesh's textiles and garments export will hit the $100 billion by 2030. The country is also one of the most reliable sources for drugs of international standard. Local drugmakers export to 150 countries and meet 98 percent of the demand at home while the leather industry is the second largest export earner.
The country is the world's largest exporter of jute and jute products.
To make economic advancement pick up pace and to become a developed nation, the government's target is to establish 100 economic zones.
The prime minister said improving the investment environment was the government's priority, according to a FBCCI statement.
She said the BIDA is implementing the Bangladesh Investment Climate Improvement Programme mainly to put an end to red tape.
Bangladesh's textiles and garments export will hit the $100 billion by 2030. The country is also one of the most reliable sources for drugs of international standard. Local drugmakers export to 150 countries and meet 98 percent of the demand at home while the leather industry is the second largest export earner.
People around the globe have been suffering amid rising prices of essentials and high inflation rates due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, and economic sanctions and counter-sanctions, she said.
"Bangladesh, like many other developing countries, is now facing serious trouble due to the global economic recession. Even the developed countries have been rattled," BSS reports quoting Hasina as saying.
Despite the challenges, Bangladesh is marching towards prosperity and development, she said.
"We're advancing towards prosperity overcoming all the hurdles, and we have to make the current efforts more vibrant to continue the journey of progress.
"Once upon a time, Bangladesh was considered as the country of natural calamity and poverty. But the situation has changed now. Bangladesh has now become the world's 35th largest economy and a 'role model' for development."
FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin invited global business leaders to join Bangladesh's mega initiatives and to take advantage of South Asia's fastest-growing economy with a regional manufacturing hub.
The FBCCI is organising the mega business event on a global scale to focus on the vast opportunities the global leaders have in Bangladesh to expand their business and relocate their industries, he added.
Ministers from seven countries including the UK, Saudi Arabia, China, Bhutan, the UAE, CEOs of 12 multinational companies, over 200 foreign investors, and business leaders from 17 countries are participating in the summit.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen; Saudi Arabia Commerce Minister Dr Majid bin Abdullah Alkassabi; Bhutan Commerce Minister Karma Dorji; Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organisation Xiangchen Zhang; Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi; and Sheikh Hasina's Private Industries and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman spoke at the event.
Three memorandums of understanding (MoU) were signed between Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh to expand trade and commerce. The FBCCI signed a MoU with China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
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