Bangladesh, Malaysia partners in trade, \\\'not competitors\\\'

Malaysian High Commissioner in Dhaka Norlin Othman said Monday Bangladesh and Malaysia were not competitors, rather they were complementing each other on the trade front and producing products together to sell those in the global market after meeting domestic demands.

She also said Bangladesh had the ability to emulate most of whatever Malaysia had done for its development.

She also promised that Bangladeshi businesses would get three-year multiple entry visa from now on as their government had decided so and the high commission was trying to appoint one trade official in Bangladesh.

"We can complement each other. We don't have to compete. Bangladesh has something and Malaysia has something. You (businesspeople) join hands together and produce products that can be sold in the rest of the world," said Ms Norlin.  

The Malaysian diplomat was speaking as chief guest at an award ceremony titled 'BMCCI Excellence Awards-2013' organised by the Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI) at a city hotel Monday night.  

BMCCI President Nasir A Chowdhury, Secretary General Raquib Mohammad Fakhrul, Managing Director and CEO of Robi Axiata Ltd Supon Weerasinghe and former BMCCI President and Chairman of the BMCCI Excellence Awards 2013 organising committee Syed Nurul Islam, among others, addressed the function.  

The award winners are AK Khan & Co Ltd Managing Director Salahuddin Kasem Khan (foreign direct investment-FDI), Nitol-Niloy Group Chairman Abdul Matlub Ahmad (export and import) and Green Delta Insurance Co Adviser Ltd Nasir A Choudhury (role in flourishment of insurance business in the country.)   

Ms Norlin said she was trying hard to convince Malaysian businesses to relocate their industries to Bangladesh so that they could sell their products in the market here and also sell to the European markets taking the advantage of the duty-free system.

The diplomat said unfortunately the Malaysian High Commission had no trade office as her government's idea was that Bangladesh could be covered from India.   

"Trade office in Chennai actually covers Bangladesh. We're working on that. We're trying to persuade the government to put one specific trade officer here in Bangladesh, because Bangladesh is doing very well," she added.   

The diplomat said Bangladesh had great potentials and that a lot of things could be done together. She showed interest to import potato and Hilsa from Bangladesh.   

She also suggested the exporters to diversify their products currently being sold to Malaysia to boost bilateral trade.   

Supon Weerasinghe said Robi had already invested Tk 130 billion since the inception making it the largest investor in Bangladesh.

"We believe in business excellence and hope to see the continuation of success as consistency is part of excellence," he added.

He urged the government to ease regulation and lower tax to facilitate foreign investments.

Syed Nurul briefly introduced the three award winners and said the awards could not be distributed timely due to political turmoil.

He said BMCCI would continue to work to promote Bangladesh-Malaysia trade and investment.

"We've the agenda to promote Bangladesh in Malaysia and Malaysia in Bangladesh," said Mr Islam.

Malaysian businesses should relocate some of their industries to Bangladesh rather than selling their products to a small group of customers there taking the opportunity of a big market here.