Deal inked to gain access to IT areas in Canada, USA

FE Report Mark Bolger, EDC (Export Development Canada) regional manager introduced EDC products and services for Bangladesh over a reception at the official residence of Canadian High Commissioner in the city recently. He said there is a vast opportunity to enhance business relations between Bangladesh and Canada. "Bangladesh has achieved better GDP growth in compare with countries like USA and Canada. So, many Canadian companies see more business opportunities in the country," Mr Mark Bolger added. He gave an elaborate data regarding the performance highlights of EDC in 2010. EDC supported $84 billion in Canadian exports and investments in more than 190 markets around the world, shored up $15 billion in the Asian markets. Besides, it maintained over $18 billion in business volume in Asia and almost $10 billion in emerging Asia in 2011 to date. EDC's direct lending to the Government of Bangladesh includes public sector entities, creditworthy corporate entities (for private sector). EDC also expressed it's willing to work with leading foreign, private and public sector banks in Bangladesh, Global Positioning Survey (GPS) geological survey, pharmaceuticals, specialized equipment for environment waste management, bio power generation, solar infrastructure, roads, airports etc. Historically, EDC Volume in Bangladesh has a steady growth. Number of Canadian customers has grown from 13 in 2006 to 40 in 2010. Heather Cruden, Canadian High Commissioner designate to Bangladesh, praised the role of EDC and said the economic relation with Bangladesh is very important to Canada. CanCham President underlined that the Canadian government organizations like EDC could play a keen role to support both the private and the public sectors of Bangladesh and undertake various turn-key projects, besides offering credit insurance and financial services to the buyers of Canadian goods and services. He proposed that EDC may consider a line of credit like "Bangladesh Infrastructure Fund" in order to boost such sectors as power, oil & gas exploration, IT and aviation. In the backdrop of the presentation of Mark Bolger, the Canada Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed deals with two Bangladeshi software and call-centre trade bodies to help software development and export diversification. The agreement aims to help Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and Bangladesh Association of Call Centre and Outsourcing (BACCO) gain access to markets in Canada and the USA. Masudur Rahman, president of CanCham Bangladesh, Forkan Bin Quasem, secretary general of BASIS, and Ahmadul Hoq, president of BACCO, signed the agreement at a simple ceremony at the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka. "The objective of the agreement is to highlight the complementary role of the private sector as well as the public sector and help get market access to enhance business volume between Canada and Bangladesh," said Rahman in his speech. Under the partnership, two seminars on IT outsourcing and call centre business would be held in Bangladesh and Canada in 2012. Rahman said the presence of Canadian private companies is growing in Bangladesh as they realise that the opportunities that exist within the market of about 30 million middle-class population. Rahman also said EDC, the official export credit agency of the government of Canada, could play a key role in supporting both the private and the public sectors in Bangladesh.