Ambassador of Argentina Marcelo Carlos Sesa and DCCI President Ashraf Ahmed held a meeting at the DCCI office in Dhaka on Sunday. Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) on Sunday sought Argentine investment in the country's pharmaceuticals sector for mutual benefits of the two countries.
The development came during a bilateral meeting between DCCI President Ashraf Ahmed and the Ambassador of Argentina in Bangladesh, Marcelo Carlos Sesa, at the trade body's Gulshan office in the capital.
"The establishment of the permanent mission of Argentina in Bangladesh has created an opportunity to expand bilateral trade and investment between the two countries," said the DCCI president.
He said the amount of bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Argentina during the fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 was US $ 678.78 million. The imports and exports of Bangladesh accounted for $ 663.34 million and $ 14.55 million respectively during the fiscal.
He invited Argentine companies to come to Bangladesh to set up joint ventures with Bangladeshi counterparts in the pharmaceutical and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) sectors to enjoy the incentives given by the Bangladesh government.
He also requested Argentine importers to import more garment products from Bangladesh along with jute, jute goods, leather and leather products, medicine and plastic products.
The DCCI president also pointed out that the higher tariff while exporting from Bangladesh to Argentina might be re-considered by the relevant authority of that end to boost export in future.
He also said that Bangladesh was doing very good in the IT industry, therefore, Argentina could import software and hire IT professionals from Bangladesh.
He emphasised arranging regular business to business (B2B) match making meetings even on any online platform for the businessmen of both countries so that they could know each other's market strength and demand.
Mr Ashraf Ahmed informed the Argentine envoy that any Argentine company could enjoy the facility of DCCI's commercial research on specific market or product to know the market potential.
Ambassador of Argentina in Bangladesh Marcelo Carlos Sesa said that despite the great potential of bilateral trade and investment, it had not reached the desired level mainly due to the lack of communication between businessmen of the two countries.
He said that Argentina could play an important role as a 'hub' for Bangladesh's trade and investment in the South American region. He mentioned that the 'Mercosur' economic alliance had been formed comprising four South American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) and duty-free import-export benefit was ensured among them.
He encouraged Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to invest in Argentina to get the opportunity.
He requested DCCI to send a business delegation to Argentina to explore the new window of opportunity.
At the same time, the Ambassador also suggested signing a memorandum of understanding between the DCCI and Argentina's leading Chambers and Associations to foster bilateral relations ahead.
DCCI Senior Vice President Malik Talha Ismail Bari, Vice President Md. Junaed Ibna Ali and Deputy Head of Mission of Argentina Embassy in Bangladesh Maximiliano ROMANELLO were also present at that time.
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