FAISALABAD: Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Bangladesh is growing at a much faster pace and it will cross the mark of one billion dollars by the end of this year, said Md. Ruhul Alam Siddique, High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Pakistan.
He was addressing the business community in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) here today. He said that Pakistan is very important for Bangladesh in terms of trade and we must supplement and complement each other instead of becoming competitors. He said that trade potential between the two countries is enormous and we must harness our skills and capabilities to tap it for the benefit of each other.
Ruhul Alam Siddique said that Bangladesh intends to cooperate with Pakistan in the fields of food processing, dairy and even textile. He said that Bangladesh does not produce even a single bale of cotton but we are second in garment export after China. He said that a large number of Pakistanis are working in Bangladesh but we still need skilled manpower for our textile sector.
Ruhul Alam Siddique said that our development is directly linked with the progress of this region and we must concentrate on reactivating SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area). He said that Bangladesh has signed only one FTA. “We have some problems in signing FTA with Pakistan but we must make collaborative efforts to overcome the emerging challenges”, said Ruhul Alam Siddique, adding that he has good relations with the business community of Karachi and now he will develop similar linkages with the business circles of Punjab.
About the progress of Bangladesh, he explained in detail the measures taken by the Bangladeshi government and said that women empowerment has played a major role in bringing a turnaround. He mentioned the micro scheme launched in 1991 by Dr. Muhammad Younus and said that it revolutionized our economy. He stressed the need to promote chamber to chamber links and said that after covid we could contact each other online in addition to the exchange of trade delegations.
Ruhul Alam Siddique said that Bangladesh was termed as “bottomless basket” in 1971 immediately after its inception. “Now after 50-year of independence our per capita income is $2824 and GDP is 40 billion dollars”, he said and added that Bangladesh is number one jute producing country. “Similarly, we are second in garment exports and also second in rice production”, he said and added that in 2009 our electricity generation was 14,900 MW which has now jumped to 25,000 MW. He said that special measures have been taken to attract much needed FDI and in this connection special product zones have been created in addition to Korean and Indian economic zones.
Ruhul Alam Siddique said that the “one family, one farm” scheme was introduced to overcome the problem of food security. Similarly, houses were provided to the poor and every house was energized with electricity. He said that industry has its own captive power plants and we successfully achieved Millennium and sustainable economic goals paving the way to become a developed country in 2026. He said that now work has been started on mega projects and Matarbari, Nuclear and Payra Power Plants are under construction. He said that Pakistan and Bangladesh share the same values of religion and we must work together to promote bilateral trade for the betterment of our people.
Earlier President Atif Munir Sheikh introduced Faisalabad and FCCI and said that this city alone was contributing 45% share in the total textile export of Pakistan. He said that in 2021 Pakistani export to Bangladesh was 815.6 million dollars while import from Bangladesh was only 90.4 million dollars. He proposed chamber to chamber links, exchange of trade delegations and constitution of Pak-Bangladesh business council to further enhance our bilateral trade.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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