India: “Improvement of investment and trade relationship between India and Bangladesh is one of the key objectives of the high level business mission to India” said Dr. S A Samad, Executive Chairman, Board of Investment, Government of Bangladesh, who led a 14-member multi-product business delegation from Bangladesh to Chennai from 8-10 August 2010.

Addressing a Seminar on “Strengthening Indo-Bangladesh Investment & Trade” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today, Dr Samad said that Bangladesh needs a new paradigm of growth, which is sustainable, balanced and inclusive. To achieve this, Bangladesh would reinforce its economic and trade relationship with India - the country which has emerged successfully when many other countries impacted due to recession, said Dr Samad.

Speaking about the economic growth, Dr Samad said that Bangladesh is growing at a steady pace of around 6% and the target is to touch a growth of 8% in the medium term by 2013.

With a labour cost, lowest amongst many developing countries. Bangladesh offers a competitive business-friendly environment for investors. Strategic location, regional connectivity and worldwide access are some of the advantages for investors, he said. Investment opportunities in Bangladesh in key sectors under PPP include; power, ports, telecom, highways and expressways, oil and gas, airports, tourism, industrial estates, property development amongst others.

HE Mr. Tariq Ahmad Karim, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India in his address said that Bangladesh wants to be the hub of connectivity between the South East Asian countries as well as the North Eastern parts of India, which will help to enhance the trade between the two countries.

Speaking about the business delegation visit to Chennai, Mr Karim said Bangladesh sees huge opportunity for collaboration in the manufacturing and services sectors. With Chennai being a leader in both manufacturing and services, it gives tremendous opportunity for Bangladesh companies to leverage upon the strengths of Chennai and the Tamil Nadu State as a whole.

Mr. M Velmurugan, IES, Executive Vice Chairman, Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau in his address said that there are abundance opportunities in Tamil Nadu to invest as well as to find a partner to invest in Bangladesh. Tamil Nadu, being a hub for automotive, leather, IT, textile and electronics sectors provide a huge opportunity for Bangladesh companies to collaborate with Indian counterparts.

Mr Velmurugan said that the key advantage of Tamil Nadu is the availability of abundant skilled manpower at competitive wage cost, quality physical infrastructure and investor friendly policies. 35 Fortune 500 companies are having their plants in Tamil Nadu, making it a truly worldclass destination for global investments, he said.

Mr. T T Ashok, Deputy Chairman, CII Southern Region in his address said that India and Bangladesh have enjoyed a very cordial and friendly relationship. The relationship between the two countries have strengthened over the years in view of similarities in cultural, social and economic factors.

Bangladesh is a strong business partner for India in South Asia. Indian exports to Bangladesh in 2008-09 stood at US$ 2497.84 million and imports from Bangladesh touched US$ 313.11 million, said Mr Ashok. Both the countries offer natural markets for each other’s exports and have advantages of reduced transaction costs and quicker delivery due to geographical proximity and common language, he further added.

Mr. Abdul Matlub Ahmad, President, India- Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry in his address said that IBCCI was formed over three years back to promote bilateral trade and investment between India and Bangladesh. About 7 billion dollars worth of trade is happening between both the countries and we hope it increases substantially in the years to come, said Mr Ahmad. To promote a level playing field on bilateral trade, currently over 4000 categories of products imported from Bangladesh into India are duty free. Only 487 products are still dutiable and efforts would be taken to reduce it further, said Mr Ahmad.

Mr S Sen, Principal Advisor, Special Projects, CII in his concluding remarks said that Bangladesh want to grow in the field of IT and India would be the best partner as the country is doing very well in this sector. Partnership in the fields of technical training, transfer of knowledge would benefit both the countries, he said.

Source:http://www.cii.in/NewsRoom.aspx?enc=SO0wa+TYDvk3FXKFO1bn1Q==

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