DCCI seeks Sri Lanka's cooperation in deep sea fishing, tourism

President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Taskeen Ahmed urged Sri Lanka to cooperate in the development of deep sea fishing and tourism sectors in Bangladesh.
He made the request while High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Bangladesh Dharmapala Weerakkody paid a courtesy visit to the DCCI on Sunday.
The DCCI president said that the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka reached USD 134.06 million during the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, marking a significant rise from USD 93.11 million recorded in FY 2019-20, reflecting an impressive growth rate of 9.5 per cent per year.
A good number of Sri Lankan investors especially from the banking, textile, power, construction and pharmaceutical sector have already made USD 428.56 million worth of investment in Bangladesh as foreign direct investment (FDI), he said.
He urged more Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to invest in agriculture and food processing, construction industry, healthcare, tourism, information technology (IT) and FMCG sectors.
Mr Taskeen laid emphasis on Sri Lanka's experience and technical assistance in the areas of deep-sea fishing, tourism and shipping industry. He proposed accelerating negotiations at the government level for the early signing of the proposed Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), which would greatly enhance bilateral trade and investment.
During the meeting, Sri Lankan High Commissioner Dharmapala Weerakkody said the joint investment in the synthetic fabric manufacturing can be very potential for investors of both countries. He highlighted healthcare, tourism, large hotel, IT, education and pharmaceutical sector as some of the most potential sectors for joint venture investment.
He said both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka belong to SAARC countries and both nations have maintained a friendly bilateral diplomatic relation for a long period of time. He urged the entrepreneurs of Bangladesh to utilise Sri Lanka's experience and technical expertise to develop the local tourism sector of Bangladesh.
He also said that Sri Lanka has already signed PTA with a number of countries and negotiations with Bangladesh will begin soon to further expand bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.
DCCI's Senior Vice President Razeev H Chowdhury, Vice President Md. Salem Sulaiman and Counsellor (Commercial) of Sri Lankan High Commission Srimali Jayarathne were also present, among others.

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