The Sichuan China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (Sichuan CCPIT) organized the virtual conference, entailing business and government leaders of the region, said a press release on Saturday.
Sheikh Fazle Fahim, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), delivered the keynote speeches as one of the representatives of the Business Associations of South and Southeast Asian countries in the online conference titled “China (Sichuan)-South & Southeast Asia Business Leaders Online Conference Opening Ceremony and 2020 Online Products Exhibition for South & Southeast Asia Countries.”
Praising the Bangladesh government’s quick response to the pandemic and highlighting the path to recovery Fahim said, “As we navigate the next normal, we are confident in our economy as it is demonstrating strong recovery trend with GDP growth of 5.24 percent, remittance growth of 5.4 percent and FOREX reserve growth of 10 percent in FY19-20. Trade is also making a strong recovery.”
Congratulating the CCPIT for such an initiative in his keynote speech, the FBCCI president said, “This year marks the 100th birth centenary of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib Borsho) who has left a legacy of forging south-south interregional collaboration that resonates with today’s program.”
“The current Covid-19 outbreak is volatile, and its impact on the economy is uncertain on humanity beyond borders. But since February 2020, though FBCCI’s proactive advocacies and exhaustive consultations with local and global stakeholders, we were able to solicit a 3-year targeted roadmap to recovery in a broad spectrum of socio-economic agenda. As part of our government’s good will gestures to multiple governments, on behalf of private sector of Bangladesh, FBCCI modestly joined in some initiatives in addition to independently extending international goodwill gestures, including the one to CCPIT Beijing,” he added.
FBCCI President also said Bangladesh is one of their top five performing destinations for most MNCs, and our ROI makes us an attractive destination with IP protection in place for technology transfer. Foreign investors including Chinese investors with technology and knowledge transfer can avail the opportunity of Bangladesh’s production competitive edge, domestic consumer base, regional market access, DFQF to India, EU, Canada, Australia, APTA, etc.
Investment benefits of leading Tax, tariff, incentives, 100% ownership, profit, dividend repatriation etc in addition to investment options such as joint ventures with domestic investors and under license are also lucrative possibilities, he stated.
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Underscoring the importance of complementary cooperation the president of FBCCI also expressed his great anticipation for targeted engagements with CCPIT Sichuan Council in strategic areas of focusing on maximizing knowledge and resource exchange.
Zhang Xiaogang, Former President of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Senior Strategic Consultant of National South Asian Standardization (Chengdu) Research Center; Iftikhar Ali Malik, President of SAARC CCI; Guo Chuanwei, Director of Trade and Investment Division of ASEAN - China Centre; and Huang Li, President of CCPIT Sichuan Council addressed the conference followed by keynote speeches from business association representatives of South-East Asian countries entailing Pakistan, Srilanka, Malaysia, and Philippines.