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Interactive business meeting and B2B held between visiting Dhaka Chamber delegation and Indian Chamber of Commerce

The 47-member visiting business delegation from Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry to Kolkata attended for an interactive business networking seminar followed by a fruitful B2B session with the age old Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) at the ICC headquarter in Kolkata, India on May 26, 2022. Rizwan Rahman, President of Dhaka Chamber is leading this large delegation to explore new window of opportunities of trade and investment.

Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Minister in Charge, Department of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal, Arup Roy, Minister in Charge, Department of Cooperatives, Government of West Bengal were present at the function as the Chief Guests. P Kamalakanth, Executive Director, West Bengal Industrial Development Cooperation and Andalib Elias, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata were also present as special guests.

Rizwan Rahman, President and Head of Delegation, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that businesses have no border but the existing bilateral trade of about USD 10 billion is not adequate. There are avenues of opportunities in cross border trade specially in the healthcare, education, skill development, IT and FINTECH industry. He also said that to increase the bilateral trade to an expected level, private sector of both Kolkata and Bangladesh has to take the lead. He also said that private sector should be involved in the policy formulation process to make it easier for businesses. He also said that Bangladesh can act like a bridge between connecting the northeastern region of India with Kolkata. Later, he urged for better infrastructure of land ports.

Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata Andalib Elias stresses mutual discussion for better trade and investment opportunities between Bangladesh and India. At present the diplomatic and trade relation between Bangladesh and India is very friendly and cordial. There may have some policy related challenges in bilateral trade but with the help of regular discussions, all hurdles can be solved to achieve our aim, he added.

President of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Pradeep Sureka added, "The economic, historical, cultural relationship between India and Bangladesh shared is beyond words. Both countries have worked towards strengthening their bilateral relationship. West Bengal is the anchor in its true sense between Bangladesh and India."

Prashant Sharma, Managing Director, Charnock Hospital in his keynote paper said that healthcare tourism is one of the prosperous area to work on. Bangladesh is the biggest development partner of India today and Bangladesh invited Indian companies to invest in Bangladesh’s infrastructure sector that requires investment of about $20 billion a year till 2030.

Ashish Middha, Director Branch Secretariat & RPO, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of West Bengal said that Bangladesh has also emerged not only as India’s largest trading partner in South Asia, but as one of our top five export destination. At present more than 350 Indian reputed companies are registered in Bangladesh with USD 3.5 billion FDI and after the completion of Indian EZs in Bangladesh more Indian investors will go there to invest, he added.

Published on: 2022-05-27