Trade, investment summit begins on October 26

Bangladesh foreign ministry will extend its all-possible support to holding the week-long 'Bangladesh Trade and Investment Summit' next month.

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and the Ministry of Commerce are going to organise the global investment summit virtually, in order to deepen Bangladesh's collaboration with investors from six continents.

Scheduled to be held between October 26 and November 1, the week-long virtual summit is expected to promote Bangladesh as an attractive destination of trade and foreign direct investment (FDI).

Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen assured of the support during a meeting with DCCI President Rizwan Rahman at the ministry on Sunday.

To celebrate the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh, the commerce ministry and DCCI have taken the initiative to jointly organise the summit.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given her consent to inaugurate the summit as the chief guest.

Appreciating the joint effort, Dr. Momen said it would be a very time-befitting initiative to attract foreign investments.

Despite the pandemic, Bangladesh is poised to keep a positive economic growth, he said.

Apart from foreign investors, the Bangladeshi diasporas have a keen interest in investing in their motherland, said the foreign minister.

Mentioning that the environment for doing business in Bangladesh is now more congenial than ever, the minister requested the business community to utilise this image to attract more foreign investments.

DCCI President Rizwan Rahman at the meeting said despite the Covid-induced crunch, Bangladesh had registered a remarkable 5.47 per cent GDP growth in FY2021.

The confidence of the global investors in Bangladesh has increased as some bold and strategic reforms are consistently being taken, considering the changing geo-economic dynamics and private sector needs, said Mr. Rahman.

He sought cooperation from the foreign ministry to disseminate the summit's information to businesses around the globe through all the diplomatic missions of Bangladesh.

The theme of the summit is 'Connecting the Eco-nomy of Tomorrow', coinciding with the spirit of 1971 where the number 1 stands for a single host nation, 9 stands for nine sectors, 7 stands for seven days, and 1 stands for a summit, said a press release.

The objectives of the summit are to promote Bangladesh as an attractive trade and FDI destination to global businesses, extend global integration on trade and investment into a new global reality, and secure investment in diverse priority and emerging industries for mutual benefits.

The summit will focus on nine sectors underscoring critical enablers and avenues of the economy, and demanding massive investments, especially in infrastructure (physical, logistics, and energy), IT/ITES and FINTECH, leather goods, pharmaceuticals, automotive and light engineering, plastic products, agro and food processing, jute and textiles, FMCG and retail businesses.

Hundreds of entrepreneurs from more than 50 countries, including America, Europe, the Middle East, and West Asia, Asia and Pacific, and Africa, are expected to join the Business to Business (B2B) match-making sessions in all seven days.

Moreover, there will be a series of sector-specific webinars, joined by dignitaries, ministers, high government officials, researchers, think tanks, economists, policymakers, and academicians, both from home and abroad.

More than 160 B2B sessions are expected to be held involving more than 320 business entrepreneurs.