Canada's role in development of Bangladesh eulogised
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
FE Report
Speakers at a seminar Tuesday eulogised Canada's role in the development of Bangladesh during the last 40 years.
They also emphasised the need for further strengthening the bilateral ties for the betterment of the two friendly nations.
The Canadian High Commission (CHC) in Dhaka and the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) jointly organised the seminar to mark the 40 years of bilateral ties. BEI president Farooq Sobhan chaired the seminar titled "Canada-Bangladesh Ties in 21st century" at BEI conference room in the capital.
Addressing the seminar as the chief guest Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Abul Kalam Azad said Canada was one of the first countries that recognised Bangladesh as an independent country immediately after the Liberation War in 1971.
"Since then Canada has been one of the major development partners of Bangladesh. The bilateral relationship between the two countries is based on shared values of democracy and pluralism."
He said, over the past forty years Canada was working together with Bangladesh in strengthening parliamentary democracy, improving the education system and expanding business opportunities. "Canada is also helping Bangladesh in the fields of environment and health," he added.
The minister said Bangladesh, as a recipient of Canadian international aid, has pursued economic diplomacy as an instrument of foreign policy.
"The government of Bangladesh is offering different kinds of facilities to Canadian companies such as tax holiday, the right to send back 100 per cent of profits to their own country, easier visa processing, work permits and cash incentives."
Mr Azad urged the Canadian investors to take full advantage of these facilities and boost the trade between the two countries by investing in different sectors in Bangladesh.
The minister also expressed gratitude to Canada for offering duty-free access of Bangladeshi products to its market.
Canadian High Commissioner in Dhaka Heather Cruden said trade between the two countries had grown dramatically in the last 3-4 years. The value of bilateral merchandise trade had more than doubled from US$628 million in 2006 to $1.39 billion in 2010.
Ms Cruden said Bangladesh has become the second largest exporter of merchandise to Canada from South Asia, after India.
The high commissioner said in Bangladesh Canadian companies have been active in the foodgrain, textile, IT and telecommunications, renewable energy, engineering and railway sectors.
"With Bangladesh's liberalised investment programme in the power and energy sector, further opportunities are opening up in the power, oil and gas sectors," she said.
Ms Cruden also elaborated her country's investment and assistance through Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in various sectors.
In his presentation on 'Bangladesh-Canada Relations' former Bangladesh High Commissioner to Canada Mohsin Ali Khan said: "Built upon shared values of democracy, freedom, human rights and rule of law, our bilateral relations are focused on development cooperation, trade and investment, regional security, immigration and people-to-people contact."
As major development partner of Bangladesh, Canada's early development efforts involved reconstruction and rehabilitation and then moved on to good governance and rural development especially in the field of agriculture, water management, primary education and health, he said.
Mr Khan said Canada has included Bangladesh in the list of the "25 core countries" for its development assistance.
He urged Canada to lend further support for tackling the impact of climate change, to be more liberal towards immigration programme, recruitment of more skilled and semi-skilled workers, and for transferring technologies.
President of Canada-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CanCham) Masud Rahman said presence of Canada's private sector in Bangladesh is growing since the companies could realise the extensive opportunities in this market.
He said the Canadian investors should further increase their investment in the fields of power, energy, textile, apparel, food processing and packaging, IT and public transport services.
Members of Parliament Shahriar Alam and Abu Bakar, president of Commonwealth Society Enam Ahmed Chowdhury, former ambassadors Afsarul Kader, Khairul Anam, Sirajul Islam and Shahed Akter also spoke, among others, on the occasion.
They called for immediate extradition of killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Raman who are living in Canada, and for liberalising immigration and visa process for Bangladeshi people.
Farooq Sobhan in his speech thanked the Canadian government and the people for recognising Bangladesh immediately after the independence.
He said Canadian assistance to Bangladesh has been concentrated in health, education and economic growth of the country.
Mr Sobhan further thanked Canada for granting duty-free access of Bangladeshi goods to its market that helped raise merchandise export manifold.
"The people-to-people link between the two countries is growing. We have excellent prospects to develop bilateral relations further," he noted.
He said Bangladesh and Canada share many common interests in the United Nations (UN) system.
Speakers at a seminar Tuesday eulogised Canada's role in the development of Bangladesh during the last 40 years.
They also emphasised the need for further strengthening the bilateral ties for the betterment of the two friendly nations.
The Canadian High Commission (CHC) in Dhaka and the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) jointly organised the seminar to mark the 40 years of bilateral ties. BEI president Farooq Sobhan chaired the seminar titled "Canada-Bangladesh Ties in 21st century" at BEI conference room in the capital.
Addressing the seminar as the chief guest Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Abul Kalam Azad said Canada was one of the first countries that recognised Bangladesh as an independent country immediately after the Liberation War in 1971.
"Since then Canada has been one of the major development partners of Bangladesh. The bilateral relationship between the two countries is based on shared values of democracy and pluralism."
He said, over the past forty years Canada was working together with Bangladesh in strengthening parliamentary democracy, improving the education system and expanding business opportunities. "Canada is also helping Bangladesh in the fields of environment and health," he added.
The minister said Bangladesh, as a recipient of Canadian international aid, has pursued economic diplomacy as an instrument of foreign policy.
"The government of Bangladesh is offering different kinds of facilities to Canadian companies such as tax holiday, the right to send back 100 per cent of profits to their own country, easier visa processing, work permits and cash incentives."
Mr Azad urged the Canadian investors to take full advantage of these facilities and boost the trade between the two countries by investing in different sectors in Bangladesh.
The minister also expressed gratitude to Canada for offering duty-free access of Bangladeshi products to its market.
Canadian High Commissioner in Dhaka Heather Cruden said trade between the two countries had grown dramatically in the last 3-4 years. The value of bilateral merchandise trade had more than doubled from US$628 million in 2006 to $1.39 billion in 2010.
Ms Cruden said Bangladesh has become the second largest exporter of merchandise to Canada from South Asia, after India.
The high commissioner said in Bangladesh Canadian companies have been active in the foodgrain, textile, IT and telecommunications, renewable energy, engineering and railway sectors.
"With Bangladesh's liberalised investment programme in the power and energy sector, further opportunities are opening up in the power, oil and gas sectors," she said.
Ms Cruden also elaborated her country's investment and assistance through Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in various sectors.
In his presentation on 'Bangladesh-Canada Relations' former Bangladesh High Commissioner to Canada Mohsin Ali Khan said: "Built upon shared values of democracy, freedom, human rights and rule of law, our bilateral relations are focused on development cooperation, trade and investment, regional security, immigration and people-to-people contact."
As major development partner of Bangladesh, Canada's early development efforts involved reconstruction and rehabilitation and then moved on to good governance and rural development especially in the field of agriculture, water management, primary education and health, he said.
Mr Khan said Canada has included Bangladesh in the list of the "25 core countries" for its development assistance.
He urged Canada to lend further support for tackling the impact of climate change, to be more liberal towards immigration programme, recruitment of more skilled and semi-skilled workers, and for transferring technologies.
President of Canada-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CanCham) Masud Rahman said presence of Canada's private sector in Bangladesh is growing since the companies could realise the extensive opportunities in this market.
He said the Canadian investors should further increase their investment in the fields of power, energy, textile, apparel, food processing and packaging, IT and public transport services.
Members of Parliament Shahriar Alam and Abu Bakar, president of Commonwealth Society Enam Ahmed Chowdhury, former ambassadors Afsarul Kader, Khairul Anam, Sirajul Islam and Shahed Akter also spoke, among others, on the occasion.
They called for immediate extradition of killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Raman who are living in Canada, and for liberalising immigration and visa process for Bangladeshi people.
Farooq Sobhan in his speech thanked the Canadian government and the people for recognising Bangladesh immediately after the independence.
He said Canadian assistance to Bangladesh has been concentrated in health, education and economic growth of the country.
Mr Sobhan further thanked Canada for granting duty-free access of Bangladeshi goods to its market that helped raise merchandise export manifold.
"The people-to-people link between the two countries is growing. We have excellent prospects to develop bilateral relations further," he noted.
He said Bangladesh and Canada share many common interests in the United Nations (UN) system.