Photo : Collected
Commerce Reporter:
DHAKA, Sept 26 : Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has
sought Malaysia’s support in facilitating exports of Bangladeshi products and
services to the ASEAN region, while urging Malaysian entrepreneurs to invest
in Bangladesh to tap its large domestic market and regional export
opportunities.
DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed made the call at separate bilateral trade and
investment discussions with the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Malaysia (NCCIM) and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing (FMM) in Kuala
Lumpur on September 25 and 26, said a press release here today.
At the “Malaysia-Bangladesh Business Forum: Bridging Business and Building
B2B Partnership”, organised by NCCIM, Taskeen sought Malaysia’s support for
expanding exports of Bangladeshi readymade garments, pharmaceuticals,
electronics, IT-enabled services, jute and jute products and food products to
ASEAN countries.
He also called on Malaysian entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh,
highlighting opportunities to serve the country’s large domestic market and
use Bangladesh as a base for expanding Malaysian exports to other South Asian
markets.
NCCIM President Norsyahrin bin Hamidon said Bangladesh is one of Malaysia’s
important trade partners in South Asia and stressed the importance of such
business engagements in expanding bilateral trade and investment.
He said Malaysia currently exports mainly petroleum products to Bangladesh
while there is considerable scope for increasing the presence of Malaysian-
made products in Bangladesh’s growing middle-class consumer market.
DCCI Senior Vice President Razeev H Chowdhury presented a keynote paper on
Bangladesh’s trade and investment potential at the forum.
At the “Strategic Forum on Malaysia-Bangladesh Business & Trade
Opportunities”, organised by FMM on September 25, FMM President Jacob Lee
Chor Kok said greater private-sector engagement could help take bilateral
economic relations to a new level and open up new areas of cooperation.
He said increased interaction between businesses of the two countries could
contribute to strengthening bilateral trade and investment ties.
Lee also acknowledged the contribution of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia’s
economic development, saying Bangladeshi workers have provided skilled,
hardworking and quality manpower to various sectors of the Malaysian economy.
He noted that workers returning to Bangladesh after gaining skills,
experience and specialised knowledge in Malaysia could contribute to the
country’s economic development and industrialisation.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury,
Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Regional
Groupings Division of Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry
(MITI) Dr Rashidi Said and Director of the Central, West, South Asia and
Africa Section of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation
(MATRADE) Naim Abdul Rahman, among others, spoke at the event.
Meanwhile, DCCI and FMM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further
strengthen cooperation in bilateral trade and investment.
DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed and FMM President Jacob Lee Chor Kok signed the
MoU on behalf of their respective organisations.
Entrepreneurs from Bangladesh and Malaysia also participated in around 70
business-to-business (B2B) matchmaking sessions, exchanging information on
business and investment opportunities and exploring potential areas of
cooperation.
