Bangladesh policymakers woo Chinese entrepreneurs for exports

Salman F Rahman, advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and policymakers have asked Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in the country and export products back to Beijing using the duty-free access facility.

The issues came up for discussion on Monday at a virtual opening ceremony of the Mandarin version of a report titled 'Destination Bangladesh' prepared by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) Bangladesh.

Rahman was the chief guest and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam was the special guest.

Last July, Hasina had invited Chinese entrepreneurs to explore the full potential of business and trade relations with Bangladesh as the country is marching ahead in various areas of economic growth and development. Recently the Chinese government provided duty-free access for 97 per cent products manufactured in Bangladesh.

On Monday, Rahman said Bangladesh achieved a sustainable economic growth of over 7 per cent in the last few years, but the rate has declined due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The country has developed infrastructure both physically and digitally. A large number of people are now earning money using the internet. The country has been working to improve significantly in the ease of doing business index of the World Bank by 2022," Salman added.

Alam said the bilateral ties between Bangladesh with China was at the highest level in history. "The Bangladesh government has zero tolerance of corruption and terrorism. Investor confidence is increasing. The government has harmonized policies related to tax and business," he added.

Paban Chowdhury, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (Beza), said the country currently has no scarcity of land for industrialisation. The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar at Mirershorai in Chattogram has 40,000 acres of land.

Major General Salahuddin Islam, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, said 119 companies from China have invested over $1.1 billion in export processing zones.

Bangladesh Ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman, and HSBC Chief Executive Officer Mahbubur Rahman and Managing Partner of PwC Bangladesh Mamun Rashid also spoke at the event..