Bhutanese team urge Bangladesh businesses to invest in Bhutan

A Bhutanese business delegation Sunday urged the Bangladesh businesses to invest in Bhutan to reap maximum benefit from their investment.brBhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Secretary General Phub Tshering said this during a meeting with the leaders of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) at the FBCCI conference room in the city Sunday, reports UNB.brBusinessmen from Bangladesh can enjoy the foreign investment-friendly policy of Bhutan, he said.brTshering is the leader of a 16-member Bhutanese delegation now visiting Bangladesh.brDuring the July 2007-March 2008 period, Bangladesh imports from Bhutan stood at US$ 10.80 million, while its exports to Bhutan amounted only $0.78 million.brMajor items imported into Bangladesh from Bhutan are vegetables and mineral products, prepared foodstuffs, beverage, spirits and vinegar, tobacco, chemical industries products, wood and wood products, and textile products.brBangladesh exports to Bhutan include woven garments, computer accessories, dry food, melamine tableware, pharmaceuticals, soap (toilet), textile items and frozen fish.brHowever, Bhutan may easily import from Bangladesh items like leather footwear, ceramic tableware, electrical items and textile fabrics.brDuring the meeting, FBCCI 1st vice president Abul Kashem Ahmed said Bhutan was a business partner of Bangladesh for long, but the trade volume between two countries was very small.brThere is scope to enhance export from Bangladesh, if the Bhutanese importers come forward with their keen interest to buy Bangladeshi products, he said.brBhutanese Ambassador in Bangladesh Dasho Tshering Dorji, who accompanied the Bhutanese delegation at the meeting, said there was a lot of scope for doing business between the two countries.brTrade is not up to the mark till now… we've to find out what are the products we can trade, he said.brThe ambassador invited Bangladeshi businesses to visit Bhutan to explore business opportunities.brFBCCI Secretary General Mir Shahabuddin Mohammad in a presentation at the meeting mentioned that though Bangladesh and Bhutan had been partners in trade for a long time, but the volume of trade was not very large.brHe said exports of Bangladesh to Bhutan fluctuated over the last 15 years within the range of $0.02 to $5.10 million, while imports from Bhutan between $2.21 to $12.83 million.brAsian Development Bank (ADB) has been also trying to develop facilitative infrastructure in our sub-region which includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, NE India and Nepal for promoting trade in South Asia sub-region.brMir Shahabuddin said Bhutan's third country trade currently moved through Kolkata Port, which always remained congested. Bangladesh could provide relatively congestion-free facilities through Mongla Port, which was also located at a shorter distance compared to Kolkata.brFor this to happen, a tripartite agreement between Bangladesh, Bhutan and India will be required for smooth movement of Bhutanese trucks to Bangladesh through India and vice-versa, he said.