HK businesses urged to invest in B\\\'desh

FE Report | Published: January 29, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: January 28, 2015 22:13:02

The head of ICC's local chapter has called upon the country's public and private sector trade promoting bodies to play their dynamic role in exploiting international trade and business opportunities.
"Like Hong Kong, we have to promote our products on the international market extensively. Let's do our job and promote our products," said president of International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh Mahbubur Rahman.
His call came at a seminar on "Hong Kong: Sourcing and Distribution Hub in Asia" held Tuesday in the city, organised jointly by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).
Mr Rahman said Bangladesh can take the advantage of promoting its products to rest of the world through the council.
Mr Rahman called upon the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), Board of Investment (BoI) and DCCI to jointly arrange different programmes including seminars, symposiums and fairs in order to enhance export and attract foreign direct investment (FDI).
Mr Rahman said that Bangladesh and Hong Kong are located in suitable places geographically; Hong Kong is the gateway of doing business in the mainland China.
He urged Hong Kong businessmen to invest in infrastructure sector of Bangladesh under the PPP project.
Hong Kong was ranked the world's eighth largest economy and eighth largest banking centre in 2014.
President of DCCI Hossain Khaled said that Hong Kong is considered as the best location for many company's headquarters because of its strategic location and its gateway role to the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia.
He invited Hong Kong businessmen to invest in Bangladesh's textile, frozen food, leather goods, jute and jute goods, infrastructure, and shipbuilding sectors.
Chinese companies can relocate their sunset industries to Bangladesh, he said, adding that readymade garment (RMG), agro-processing, cold storage, shipbuilding, IT are some other potential sectors for Chinese investment.
He also emphasised on exchange of technology know-how, and urged the Chinese businesses to outsource Bangladeshi labour force.
Saying that Bangladesh government is giving various incentives and packages to the foreign investors, Mr Bose invited Hong Kong investors to invest in Bangladesh utilising the incentives.
Hong Kong's businessmen consider Bangladesh a potential investment destination for relocating their RMG, textile, footwear and leather goods industries, the council's regional director Dannie Chiu said.
She said that Bangladeshi businessmen can find their business partners in doing joint ventures in Hong Kong, she added.
The council's consultant Rajesh Bhagat said HKTDC regularly organises trade fairs like houseware, home textile, ICT and food fair; these fairs can be lucrative for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs.
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