BD, Sri Lanka 'should jointly tap potentials of blue economy'

Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Dhaka Prof. Sudharshan DS Seneviratne has said Bangladesh has a huge potential in blue economy sector in the Bay of Bengal and there are huge opportunities to work jointly for the development of this sector.

He made the remark during a meeting with President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) Rizwan Rahman at the DCCI Gulshan Centre in the city on Tuesday, says a press release.

The high commissioner said that signing PTA with Bangladesh is in progress and hoped that soon both the governments would be able to sign it. If the performance of PTA is good, initiative can be taken to sign FTA in the future, he added.

He expressed the hope to increase bilateral trade volume to USD 1.0 billion in the next five years.

He also invited Bangladeshi investors to invest in tourism, agriculture, shipping and logistic sector in Sri Lanka.

DCCI President Rizwan Rahman said manufacturing and service sectors of Bangladesh have high potential for foreign investors where Sri Lankan entrepreneurs can invest.

He mentioned that bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka reached US$ 165.04 million in FY 2020-21, with export worth US$ 47.32 million and import worth US$ 117.72 million.

Bangladesh mainly exports pharmaceuticals, RMG and seeds from Sri Lanka while imports are machinery, textiles, chemical, mineral products, base metal etc, he said.

To utilise untapped trade and investment potentials, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka can sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and foster collaboration in ICT, outsourcing, tourism and engineering solutions, the DCCI president suggested.

He also said that Sri Lanka can be an attractive destination for Bangladeshi investors.

Srimali Jayarathne, First Secretary (Commercial), High Commission of Sri Lanka in Bangladesh, and DCCI Senior Vice President Arman Haque were also present at the meeting.