Bangladesh has signed an agreement and 3 memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia and China on an inaugural day (Saturday) of Bangladesh Business Summit 2023.

An agreement has been signed with a Saudi Company to set up gas pipelines through India and Bangladesh under a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

Besides, two MoUs were signed with Saudi Arabia for developing Rangpur Sugar Mills and Patenga Container Terminal, another MoU was signed with China for infrastructure development.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) also signed a memorandum of understanding with China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPET).

The FBCCI is organizing a 3-day business summit in partnership with the government at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC), which will be ended on Monday.

The summit, envisaged to become Bangladesh’s flagship business promotion event, seeks to highlight Bangladesh’s economic and market strengths, and concrete trade and investment opportunities in Bangladesh, said Dr M Masrur Reaz, Technical Adviser of the summit.

The summit creates an opportunity for business-to-business leaders' interaction with national and global business leaders, investors, policymakers, practitioners, policy and market analysts, academia, and innovators, he said.

The Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi set a meeting separately with the delegation of Saudi Arabia, China, and Bhutan.

After the meeting, the minister told reporters that Saudi Arabia, China, and Bhutan expressed interest in investment in Bangladesh.

Chinese investors have expressed interest in investing in Bangladesh more and more in energy, agro-based industry, food processing, and infrastructure development sectors. China has expressed interest in further increasing ongoing trade and investment with Bangladesh, Munshi said.

“Saudi Arabia is a friendly country that has decided to invest heavily in the energy sector of Bangladesh,” he added.

In addition, Saudi Arabia is interested in investing in the agro-based industry and food sector.

Bhutan is keen to increase trade with Bangladesh. For this, it wants to increase rapid trade by eliminating various problems of sea and land ports, the commerce minister said.

Munshi said, “The development of Bangladesh is now visible and the economy is stronger than ever. Different countries are coming forward to increase trade and investment with Bangladesh.”

On Sunday, 9 parallel sessions will be held in the summit center in BICC on Investment Opportunities in Key Sectors, Consumer Goods, Infrastructure, Long Term Finance, Apparel & Textile, Digital Economy, Energy Security, Japan Bangladesh Business, and Agro Business.