Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan has said Bangladesh and South Africa have the opportunity to widen avenues of mutual trade and investment through intensifying bilateral cooperation and engagement. More effective discussions and interaction between the both countries would help to explore many potential areas of mutual benefits, he observed. His remarks came during a luncheon meeting with Candith Mashego-Dlamini, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in South Africa on Tuesday. Read more: BGMEA seeks uninterrupted energy supply by special arrangements The luncheon meeting was hosted by Md. Shahriar Alam, MP, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, in honor of Deputy Minister Mashego-Dlamini at the stateguest house Padma in Dhaka. Various trade related issues including possible areas and ways of expanding trade between Bangladesh and South Africa were discussed in the meeting. They also had discussions about how Bangladesh could increase RMG exports to the South African market. The possible ways of sharing technological know-how for mutual benefits got due importance in the meeting. Read more: BGMEA, GarmentTechBD to collaborate in improving supply chain management skills Nahim Razzaq, MP, Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh, Cedrick C. Crowley, Minister Plenipotentiary, South African High Commission to India New Delhi, India, and P. Mokazi, Director Technical Specialist, Office of Deputy Minister Mashego-Dlamini were also present at the meeting.  

Bangladesh and Sweden have considerable scope for deriving mutual benefits by strengthening and expanding collaboration in various potential areas of trade and investment, BGMEA said on Tuesday. Ambassador of Sweden to Bangladesh Alex Berg von Linde met BGMEA President Faruque Hassan at his office and discussed possible avenues of boosting bilateral trade. They also discussed how Sweden could support the sustainable development of Bangladesh’s RMG industry which aims to amplify its efforts to pursue growth in a sustainable manner to have positive impacts on the people and the planet. Read: BGMEA, OCAIB willing to collaborate on supply chain management training At the meeting, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said the RMG industry aspires to enhance its competitiveness through diversifying products, upgrading technologies, adopting innovative production solutions and developing skills of workforce. He said, “While we are placing utmost importance to building our capacities, we are also equally giving priority to the issue of sustainability in the RMG industry. The industry’s growth vision is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. Sweden could support the industry in the areas of renewable energy, innovation, technology transfer and green growth, he opined. Faruque Hassan invited the envoy to the “Made in Bangladesh Week” which will be organized by BGMEA on 12-18 November this year to showcase the prospects and strengths of the RMG industry. Read:Bangladesh can be front-runner in adopting circularity in RMG: BGMEA Ambassador Alex Berg von Linde applauded the leadership role of Bangladesh’s RMG industry in environmental sustainability and expressed high optimism about extending cooperation of Sweden to the industry to pursue further strides in sustainability. BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim, Vice President Md. Nasir Uddin, Directors Haroon Ar Rashid, Rajiv Chowdhury, Mijanur Rahman, Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Foreign Mission Cell Shams Mahmud, Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Cash Incentive Humayun Kabir Salim, and Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Schedule Bank Md. Israfil Atique were also present at the meeting.