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Business Forum on “Strengthening economic ties between Abu Dhabi and Bangladesh” held in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Abu Dhabi Chamber in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) organized a business forum on "strengthening economic ties between Abu Dhabi and Bangladesh" at the conference room of Abu Dhabi School of Management today on February 25, 2025. The members of the visiting business delegation of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) led by its President Taskeen Ahmed participated in the business forum. At present Taskeen Ahmed is leading a 29-members business delegation to UAE to explore new business opportunities.
Shamis Ali Al Dhaheri, Second Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Chamber, said the UAE has shown successes in expanding its investment as well as attracting foreign investment through the development of skilled human resources. At the same time, Bangladesh should also focus on its large pool of young generation to make them skilled enough so that foreign investors can get confidence to invest in Bangladesh utilizing this young and energetic demographic dividend. He also assured of UAE’s all possible support and cooperation for the skill development of Bangladeshi human resources.
Dhaka Chamber President Taskeen Ahmed said that being one of the largest trade organizations in Bangladesh representing the SME sector, DCCI has been working for more than last six decades to develop a favorable business environment for local and foreign trade and investment. He mentioned that in 2024, Bangladesh's import from the UAE was amounted USD 1, 352.9 million and the export to UAE was USD 402.63 million. He said the UAE entrepreneurs are already invested USD 321.67 million in Bangladesh in various sectors. He however, invited the UAE investors to invest in renewable energy, infrastructure, logistics, information technology, tourism and healthcare sector of Bangladesh. The DCCI president also requested the UAE businessmen to hire manpower from Bangladesh who are skilled in information technology, textile and engineering industries. He also requested them to import agricultural products, readymade garments, jute products and medicines from Bangladesh. Taskeen Ahmed also recommended that for skill development initiative, both DCCI Business Institute (DBI) and Abu Dhabi School of Business can work together in the days to come.
Omar Al Hosani, Head of Investor Engagement, Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) presented the keynote paper on Abu Dhabi's trade and investment potential. On the other hand, Rizwan Rahman, former president of Dhaka Chamber, presented another presentation on trade and investment potential of Bangladesh. Omar Al Hosani said the UAE is focusing towards the manufacturing, export and creating a knowledge-based economic ecosystem there. He said the government of UAE is providing 100% ownership and duty-free facilities to the foreign investors in their investments and by exploiting the investment eco-system there, Bangladeshi investors can come forward to invest in the UAE. Rizwan Rahman said that despite there is a lot of potential for enhancing bilateral trade and investment, it has not yet reached the desired level, adding that he also said that more engagements among the entrepreneurs of the two countries is necessary to expand trade and investment. He later invited the entrepreneurs of Abu Dhabi to invest in Bangladesh's infrastructure, logistics, land port, sea port service development and sustainable energy sector.
At the end of the business forum, a B2B networking session was held in presence of the representatives of about 35 companies of Abu Dhabi Chamber, where the businessmen of the two countries participated in a detailed discussion on the trade and investment possibilities between themselves.
DCCI’s Senior Vice President Razeev H Chowdhury, Vice President Md. Salem Sulaiman and members of the business delegation were also present during the meeting.
Published on: 2025-02-25