KARACHI: Bangladesh High Commissioner to Pakistan Ruhul Alam Siddique has said that the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Bangladesh is increasing continuously and the existing trade volume between the two brotherly countries is likely to touch US one billion dollars soon which will be a major milestone hence, it will be celebrated at the Bangladeshi High Commission in Islamabad and Deputy High Commission in Karachi.
Exchanging views at a meeting of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), the HC said that the current bilateral trade volume between the two countries has increased to around $ 900 million and it continues to rise at a faster pace.
“Pakistan’s exports to Bangladesh have risen by 48 percent while exports from Bangladesh to Pakistan appreciated by 14 percent which is a good sign”, he said and hoped that the rising trend continues in the days to come which will be very encouraging for the business communities of both countries.
Bangladesh HC while highlighting the progress development and achievements of Bangladesh during the last 50 years of its existence, said that his country faced many challenges after creation in 1971 when the forex reserves were zero and poverty level was over 82 percent.
“During the last 50 years, Bangladesh achieved many goals under its Vision 2021 programme and now the total exports of the country have crossed $ 50 billion. Bangladesh is number one country in jute production, 2nd in readymade garments exports, 3rd in fish exports, 4th in rice production and tomato production in the world”, he said.
He further stated that Bangladesh has achieved the status of developing country from its previous level of under developed country.
Bangladesh has also achieved remarkable progress in socio-economic sectors and has been transformed into one of the vibrant economies of the world due to visionary leadership, resilience people and political stability.
General Secretary BMG A Q Khalil, in his remarks appreciated the efforts being made by the Bangladeshi government towards improving trade and investment ties with Pakistan.
He was of the view that Pakistan must learn from the history and experience of Bangladesh.
“Bureaucratic hurdles were one of the most serious issues being suffered by Pakistan. Hence, we must learn how Bangladesh dealt with its bureaucracy and adopt the same strategy”, he added.
A Q Khalil further assured full cooperation to Bangladeshi High Commission in Islamabad and its Deputy High Commission in Karachi in all their endeavors focused on promoting trade, investment and business ties between the two countries.
“We have to make extraordinary and collective efforts to improve regional trade and investment cooperation by effectively utilizing SAARC platform”, he stressed, adding that in today’s inflationary era, regional ties have to be given special attention with a view to fulfill each other’s needs as improved regional ties were the only way to bring down the cost of doing business.
Former president KCCI Shariq Vohra, while welcoming the HC stated that Bangladesh has excelled very well in terms of economic growth and it is impressive to see that Bangladesh’s exports have risen to more than $ 50 billion and it is number one in jute production and second largest country exporting readymade garments after China.
“Keeping in view the excellent performance of Bangladesh, we need to learn from our brotherly country’s experience on how they worked dedicatedly to attain an outstanding position,” he added.
Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh Mehboob Alam, General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil, former president KCCI Majid Aziz, former president Shamim Ahmed Firpo, KCCI managing committee members and others were also present on the occasion.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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