FE Report
Bangladesh will seek widening of sub-regional connectivity and boosting of bilateral trade and investment with Myanmar during the upcoming BIMSTEC meeting there, business circles said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will fly to Myanmar on March 1 to attend the third Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit.
A high-powered Bangladesh trade delegation is also expected to accompany her.
During the summit, the Bangladesh delegation, including business leaders, will focus on raising border trade, signing coastal shipping agreement, simplifying border trade, cooperation in the field of agriculture, fisheries and livestock between the two neighbouring countries.
The summit of the seven-nation economic forum comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand is slated for March 1-4.
Sources said the Bangladsh PM will hold a meeting with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the sideline of the summit.
This will be the first visit of Hasina to a foreign country after she became Prime Minister for the third time after winning the parliamentary election on January 5 this year.
Bangladesh and Myanamr have set a target to increase bilateral annual trade to US$500 million, officials said.
Myanmar is both geographically and economically a strategic neighbour of Bangladesh. There are vast scopes for cooperation in developing energy and natural resources, to the benefit of both the countries, business leaders said.
Bangladesh wants to invest in the field of agriculture in Myanmar. This will help the country to procure foodgrains at low prices. Bangladesh could also export readymade garment (RMG), medicine, cement, and plastic goods, they said.
Bangladesh exports frozen foods, chemical products, leather and jute products to Myanmar while it imports vegetables, prepared foods, beverage, footwear, products for chemical use and other allied industries, paper and paperboard etc.
Bangladesh exported goods worth US$ 13.67 million to Myanmar, while it imported $84 million goods in the fiscal year 2012-13.
