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Dialogue on “Exploring Trade and Investment Opportunities Between Bangladesh and Romania”
Establishing a diplomatic mission of Romania in Dhaka will foster bilateral trade and investment as well as exporting of skilled workforce from Bangladesh to Romania, speakers told at a dialogue on “Exploring Trade and Investment Opportunities Between Bangladesh and Romania” organized by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) on March 15, 2022. Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh was present as chief guest while the Mayor of Bucharest, Romania Robert Negoita was present as special guest at the function.
DCCI President Rizwan Rahman in his speech said that the government of Bangladesh is now emphasising on intensifying economic diplomacy prioritising global integration. He said that the cross-border trade link of Bangladesh is in good shape with Europe, USA, Africa and Middle East. Romania has been a proven export destination of Bangladesh for long. The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Romania hovers around $49.97 million of which Bangladesh imports only $27.39 million. The trade needs to grow with a win-win situation exploiting new opportunities to expand economic cooperation in many dimensions. He requested Romanian businessmen to source furniture, plastic, pharmaceutical, ship, jute, leather products and RMG from Bangladesh at a relatively competitive price. Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT), signed in 1987, can be implemented to allow Romanian investors to invest in our rewarding and competitive economic zones in the aforesaid sectors including the automobile sector, Rizwan Rahman added.
DCCI and the Romanian private sector can play pivotal role to harness mutual potentials, he also said. To steer all potential economic cooperation, he later urged the Romanian government to resume its diplomatic mission in Dhaka.
Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh urged government of Romania to establish their diplomatic mission in Dhaka that will foster bilateral trade relation to a new height. He also hoped for an intense trade relationship between Bangladesh and Romania but for that exchange of visit of the business community is more important, he added. He also said that both-way tourism can be a game changer in terms of bilateral trade relation. Bangladesh has world’s best skilled construction workers, so he requested Romanian entrepreneurs to hire our skilled workers. Bangladesh government has given capital or profit repatriation facility to the foreign investors; therefore he invited Romanian investors to invest in the economic zones of Bangladesh to avail this facility. Later the Mayor of DSCC said that by the end of this fiscal year DSCC will be able to achieve revenue earning worth of $104 million without increasing any tax. This revenue growth indicates that DSCC is very stern against any sort of corruption and the zero tolerance attitude of DSCC will also be continued in future. He said that a Help Desk will be established in DCCI’s Motijheel Office soon to facilitate business entities to get their renewal of Trade License from this desk easily.
Mayor of the 3rd District of Bucharest, Romania Robert Negoita urged for a reciprocal relationship among the business community of both the countries. In that case exchange of business delegation will enhance the communication, he said. Romania can be the gateway to Europe for Bangladesh, and to avail this opportunity investing in Romania will boost Bangladesh’s export to Europe, he added. He said that they can provide agriculture products and technology to Bangladesh. Textiles products of Bangladesh have a good opportunity in Romania, he said. He further said that Romanian textile sector needs skilled workforce that Bangladesh has an opportunity to export, he also said.
Benjir Ahmed MP, Former President, BAIRA said after the RMG, remittance is the second largest earning source for Bangladesh. He said that Bangladesh is ready to export skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workforce to Romania. But he also urged for establishing a diplomatic mission of Romania here in Dhaka.
Senior Vice President of BKMEA Mansoor Ahmed said that there is a great opportunity for Bangladesh’s RMG exporters to increase their export to Romania. To enhance bilateral trade more emphasis should be given on trade, investment and knowledge cooperation, he said. He also said that Romania should encourage their private sector to invest more in Bangladesh’s special economic zones.
Md. Nurul Amin, Member of National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) said that there are 13 industry skills council under NSDA which are actively working for creating skilled workforce. He also said that we need to do research to identify the requirement of what kind of manpower we actually need both for home and abroad.
DCCI Senior Vice President Arman Haque gave vote of thanks.
Published on: 2022-03-15