He said the transfer of knowledge by establishing joint ventures in Bangladesh will be helpful for Bangladesh.
Iqbal Ahmed made the remarks during a business networking meeting with Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) President Osama Taseer.
A 19-member trade delegation from UK Bangladesh Catalysts of Commerce and Industry (UKBCCI) attended the meeting.
The DCCI president invited British investors to invest in RMG, shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, leather goods, ICT and financial market in Bangladesh.
DCCI senior vice-president Waqar Ahmad Choudhury and UKBCCI President Bajloor Rahman MBE were present at the meeting.
Welcoming the delegation, Osama said the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the UK stood at US$ 4377.52 million in 2018 of which Bangladesh’s export to the UK was about US$ 4 billion and import US$ 388 million.
He said foreign direct investment from the UK to Bangladesh in 2018 was of about US$ 371 billion which is the third largest in Bangladesh.
About 200 British companies have their businesses here in Bangladesh in banking, energy, infrastructure, consultancy and education sectors.
DCCI Director and Coordinating Director, Country Competitiveness, Trade Development and Diversification Standing Committee, Engineer Akber Hakim presented a PowerPoint presentation on bilateral trade and investment scenario of both the countries.
UKBCCI chairman Iqbal Ahmed said the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the UK is in favour of Bangladesh.
He said Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are very energetic and hardworking; and urged the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to invest in the UK also.
President of UKBCCI Bajloor Rashid said there are 12,000 Bangladeshi restaurants in the UK and the annual turnover from this sector is about 5 billion British pounds.
He also invited businessmen from Bangladesh to visit the UK and share the investment strength of Bangladesh with the British entrepreneurs.
“We need to streamline few specific potential sectors where entrepreneurs of both the countries could work jointly and to expedite it an MoU could be signed between DCCI and UKBCCI. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs can also grab the UK spices market,” he said.
DCCI Directors Andaleeb Hasan, KMN Manjurul Haque, Engineer Md Al Amin, SM Zillur Rahman, Enamul Haque Patwary, Kh. Rashedul Ahsan and Rashedul Karim Munna were also present.