They were addressing a discussion jointly organised by the UK Bangladesh Catalyst Chamber Industry and the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) in the city.
Members of the visiting British Bangladeshi business delegation were present at the meeting where BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and British parliamentarian Rupa Huq also spoke.
Mr Khasru advocated for a shift in diplomacy to prioritise trade promotion over traditional diplomatic efforts, emphasising the importance of economic openness and the detrimental effects of protectionism.
"Trade and bureaucracy don't go together. As far as I'm concerned, you have to take the bureaucracy out of the trade. That's the only way to go forward. The first and foremost assignment of the ambassadors and the officers of the missions will be to promote trade," he said.
"No diplomats anywhere in the world waste time on diplomacy anymore. Their primary responsibility is securing contracts for their country and promoting trade. And these should be the indicators of their success or failure. And this is what we are going to do," he said.
Rupa Huq in her speech slammed the domination of Bangladeshi politics by two families for 54 years.
Advocating for a new political system that prioritises merit over family connections, she expressed concern about the lack of progress in the current system of merely replacing individuals from one party to other.
She also called for anti-corruption legislation and a new political force. She underscored the need for maintaining secularism and talked about the dangers of Islamist influence, laying stress on a constitution that supports merit-based opportunities for women and individuals regardless of their family or party affiliations.
The Bangladeshi origin British MP highlighted the importance of diversifying exports beyond the garment sector, noting that many UK clothes are made in Bangladesh.
She also stressed the need to avoid over-reliance on one industry to prevent exploitation, referencing past disasters like Rana Plaza. She underscored the need for exploring potentials of other sectors, such as frozen seafood.
"It's a country with so much potential. It's rich in natural resources, but at the same time, we shouldn't exploit these people."
BKMEA President Hatem Ali urged delaying Bangladesh's LDC graduation from 2026 by at least five years and also called for preferential trade agreements and market diversification. He also stressed the need for addressing unethical purchasing practices by international brands and requested fair pricing to support local industry.
"Another pressing issue is the unethical buying practices by some international buyers. They're trying to buy our goods at unfair prices. So in this context, I'd like to extend our request to all of guests present here today, especially from UK side, to raise this issue to the international forum, so we can get the fair price," he said.
EPB Vice-Chairman Anwar Hossain appreciated the UK government's duty-free market access and the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), and urged British business leaders to forge further partnerships and investment in climate support, renewable energy, and technical innovation.
UKBCCI Chairman Iqbal Ahmed highlighted the issue of skilled workers from their college struggling to find employment due to a lack of proper training and qualifications.
He emphasised the need for government intervention to ensure that workers are adequately trained in sectors like nursing, housekeeping, and trades. He said the members of the delegation have a plan to invest here around 500 million dollar initially.
He urged the government to make the foreign missions of Bangladesh more trade-oriented saying that previously these were used to serve the political interest of the ruling party.
"Don't use our high commission as a political house. It should be a business-oriented house. It should be a diplomatic house." he said, adding that every mission should have a commercial attaché.
BTMA President Showkat Aziz Russel also spoke, among others.
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