DBCCI floats slew of proposals

DBCCI President Md Anwar Shawkat Afser and the Board of Directors of Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce & Industry met Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen on Wednesday at the Conference Room of Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, says a press release.

Mr Afser proposed some vital issues relevant to the Netherlands during the meeting.

He proposed establishing a training institute in Bangladesh on dredger machine operation and assembling. To succeed the delta plan and the country's river dredging plan it is an essential part. Skilled workers will be increased and Bangladesh may set up a dredger and spare parts manufacturing and assembling plant in Bangladesh with the collaboration with interested Dutch Dredging companies.

He also suggested cutting tax on dredger imports to reduce the national dredging expenses.

The DBCCI President emphasised necessary measures to get the benefit from the Blue Economy.

He also suggested the following measures:

-Seismic survey (for searching sea resources in the extended sea area of Bangladesh).

-Investment and development of sea resources like offshore base oil, gas, minerals, etc.

-Offshore/sea-based wind power plant.

-Fishing resources at the deep sea and processing plants/export to Europe and abroad.

He said the DBCCI might issue a certificate of origin for the exporter recommending the organisation's reliability.

An Industrial Park or Netherlands-Bangladesh EPZ or Europe-Bangladesh EPZ in Bangladesh may be established for the EU market, he added.

He identified the room for development in agriculture like --

-Seed development and export abroad.

-All kinds of dairy products.

-Modern cultivation and high tech cold storage.

-Chocolate factory.

He said warehouse setup with a bonded facility in Rotterdam Port to distribute Bangladeshi products to the whole Europe is needed, especially RMG, leather, Jute goods, light engineering, frozen fish, dry foods, vegetables, seed and agro products, handicrafts, etc.

Bangladesh and the Netherlands jointly can set up a warehouse in Bangladeshi port for Dutch products with the bonded facility in the same way.

Drinking mineral water manufacturing from sea/river/lake water and rain water for locality as well as for export is needed. Some projects are existing and seeking higher technology and investment.

A display centre at the Bangladesh Embassy in The Hague for Bangladeshi products and services with the joint collaboration of Bangladesh Embassy and DBCCI should be set up.

DBCCI may keep a role as the focal point to serve Dutch investors, exporters, importers, franchisees for appropriate counterparts from Bangladesh. It also can serve as a preliminary B2B centre, he suggested.

The foreign minister appreciated the proposals from the President of DBCCI on the scope of work between the Netherlands and Bangladesh.

From the DBCCI Board, Md Shahjahan Shaju, Vice President, Md Shakawat Hossain Mamun, Secretary General, Ataus Sopan Malik, Joint Secretary General, Noafel Bin Reza, Director Finance, and Director, Md Nazmul Haque, M Rabiul Hossain, Md Shahid Alam and Md Sayem Faroky were present in the meeting.