Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) urged on Thursday Armenia to take skilled information technology (IT) and infrastructure manpower from Bangladesh.
"A large number of Bangladeshi skilled workforce especially of the IT and infrastructure sectors have been working in the Middle East and Southeast Asia successfully," DCCI president Ashraf Ahmed said while meeting with a four-member delegation from Enterprise Armenia led by Armenian Deputy Minister of the Economy Narek Teryan at DCCI office in the city on the day.
Armenia could also explore our skilled manpower of these sectors, he said, adding that Bangladesh in recent past had been doing very well in the IT sector and our IT professionals could be a potential resource for Armenia as well.
In comparison with Armenia, in terms of population, Bangladesh possesses a large consumer base for any product, he said.
He later invited the Armenian investors to invest in Bangladesh to reap the benefit of demographic dividend here.
Mr Ahmed also said that discussions might be held at government to government (G2G) level between these two friendly countries to find out the possibilities of signing free trade agreement (FTA) or preferential trade agreement (PTA).
Moreover, to increase the bilateral trade and investment, both-way investment of banking sector may usher a new window of opportunities, he added.
Narek Teryan, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economy, Republic of Armenia said for their future large infrastructure projects they may need a large number of manpower for infrastructure sector.
Narek also appreciated the recent progress of Bangladesh's IT sector and expressed their interest to recruit skilled IT professional from Bangladesh.
He also said that establishment of a joint chambers would foster bilateral trade and investment more.
He informed that Armenia has already FTAs with CIS countries, Vietnam, Singapore and Serbia.
Bangladesh can reap the benefit out of it, he added.
Later he termed high-tech and IT, smart agriculture, food processing, tourism, textile, pharmaceuticals and shoes as the most potential sectors for Bangladeshi investors in Armenia.
DCCI Senior Vice President Malik Talha Ismail Bari and Vice President Md Junaed Ibna Ali were present during the meeting.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com