Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has urged the Philippines to introduce direct air flight between Dhaka and Manila to boost bilateral trade between the two countries.
DCCI President Abul Kashem Khan made the request when Ambassador of the Philippines to Bangladesh Vicente Vivencio T Bandillo met him at the DCCI in the capital on Tuesday, said a press release of the trade body, reports BSS.
During the meeting, Kashem said there is now no direct air link between Dhaka and Manila.
"In order to boost bilateral trade between these two friendly countries, direct air flight will be a catalyst in enhancing bilateral trade volume," he said.
He said Bangladesh is an investment hungry country. "We need huge investment especially in the infrastructure sector," Kashem also invited Philippines' entrepreneurs to invest in infrastructure projects in Bangladesh.
Mentioning that the Philippines is a successful country in exporting skilled manpower to various countries, Kashem proposed for collaborating jointly with the Philippines to establish an institution for skills development of Bangladeshi-outbound manpower as there is a huge demand of skilled workforce throughout the world. He also opined that Philippines as well as the ASEAN region can explore the large market of Bangladesh with a population of over 160 million.
Besides, the DCCI president said Bangladesh and Philippines can jointly invest in industrial manufacturing like chemicals, construction materials, machineries/transport equipment and electronic products.
Philippines envoy Vicente Vivencio T Bandillo said the potential sectors in Bangladesh for Filipino entrepreneurs are information technology, business process management, travel and transport, agriculture, fisheries and processed food industry.
"Technical education sharing, two-way tourism development, technological research programmes, deepening people to people connectivity are some of the areas where Bangladesh and Philippines can cooperate with each other," he added.
