HG President Thijs Hendrix told Bangladesh Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal about his wish to invest in the South Asian country.
Ambassador Belal, along with Counselor of the Embassy, visited Hendrix Genetics at the invitation of the company and discussed about potential area of cooperation, the embassy said on Thursday.
He appraised Hendrix about Bangladesh’s recent economic growth, geo-strategic location, and vast consumers with a vibrant middle-class population that could be served as the key elements to consider Bangladesh as Hendrix’s next investment destination.
Hendrix Genetics, a multi-species animal breeding, genetics and technology company, was established in 1991. It is engaged in high-tech research and services in sectors ranging from poultry, meat, fish and aquaculture.
It has breeding programmes in turkeys, layers, guinea fowl, salmon, shrimp and trout. With over 3,500 employees, HG runs breeding centers in the Netherlands, France, and Canada.
Currently, Hendrix Genetics has a turnover of about 1.2 to 1.5 million Euro from the Bangladeshi market and supplies about 250,000 – 300,000 parent stock chicks per year. HG is first company who has sold Hybrid Commercial Turkey to Bangladesh. In addition to that, HG has very recently started to sell HG Sasso colour chicken in Bangladesh as well.
Now, they are exploring a project to bring about a qualitative change in Bangladesh’s shrimp industry using their cutting-edge research and innovations. Their ultimate goal is to provide Bangladesh with high quality shrimp genetics in the form of pathogen-free, genetically-improved shrimp broodstock.
During the meeting, Ambassador Belal apprised Hendrix about the upcoming visit of a high-level business delegation from Bangladesh with focus on fishing and aquaculture from February 26-28.
In cooperation with Dutch partners, the embassy will host a seminar on February 27 for the delegation and invited Hendrix and their partners to join the seminar which they happily accepted.
HG is also considering a MoU on shrimp sector development with the Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) during the visit of the delegation.
The ambassador hoped that investment of Hendrix Genetics in Bangladesh would open up a new era for Bangladesh's shrimp, poultry and aquaculture sector and thus help in meeting the demand of protein of the people of Bangladesh.
After visiting the Hendrix Genetics, Mayor of the Boxmeer Karel Van Soest received Ambassador Belal in his municipality along with members of his cabinet.
Ambassador Belal briefed the Mayor of Boxmeer and his cabinet about the ongoing development spree in the country and invited them to visit Bangladesh and see how investment from the Netherlands would allow them to have more social value in Bangladesh.