Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said Wednesday that the country's export earnings will get a boost from next year as the Republic of Chile decided to provide duty-free access to Bangladeshi products in their market from January 1, 2015.
He made the disclosure while speaking as chief guest at a luncheon meeting arranged by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) at a city hotel.
The topic of the monthly luncheon meeting was "Doing Business in Bangladesh: Opportunities and Challenges" where business leaders from various trade and chamber bodies, economists, ambassadors and diplomats were present.
"The Chilean Ambassador in Dhaka met me at my office in the morning and informed me about the move," he said.
Giving a brief resume on the bilateral trade between the countries, the commerce minister said Bangladesh currently exports goods worth more than US$ 30 million to the South American country against US$ 6.0 million Bangladesh's imports from there.
He said export earnings of Bangladesh was US$ 200 million in the financial year of 1972-73 and now it stands at US$30.50 billion thanks to the contribution of readymade garment (RMG) industry.
"If everything goes well in line with our plan, garment export will reach US$ 30 billion by 2015 and US$50 billion by 2021. So, both opportunities and challenges are there and I hope we'll be able to exploit fully the opportunities as we have very dynamic business communities," he said.
Mentioning political instability as one of the major challenges for the emerging economy, he said businesses suffered much due to blockades, strikes and political violence for the last several months.
About political instability Tofail Ahmed said there might have differences among the political parties on various issues but the politicians should get united so far as foreign investment and economic development of the country is concerned.
"Now, the businesses are back on the track and the country has so far managed to earn US$ 3.08 per cent more than the target and also gained additional US$ 273 million since the US suspended GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) facility to Bangladeshi products at its market.
"It proves that all the economic indicators of the country are moving towards right direction," the minister said adding that the country needs to revitalize Board of Investment (BoI) and introduce one stop service to facilitate businesses here.
Amcham President Aftab Ul Islam said the country has huge prospect but this cannot be properly materialized because of the political instability, bureaucratic tangles and changing state policies.
He also put forward four suggestions for overcoming the barriers by ensuring a pro-business atmosphere to attract foreign investment in the era of globalisation.
The recommendations are continuous support and cooperation from the government, maintaining right business trend, promote powerful reform agenda to remove anti-business elements and ensuring quick decision making by the government.
Among others, AmCham vice-president Geoffrey Strong and Executive Director A Gafur were present at the luncheon.
Chile grants duty-free access to BD\\\'s products
FE Report | Published: February 27, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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