Brunei urged to consider BD as next investment destination

The visiting delegation from Brunei has been urged to consider Bangladesh as their next trade and investment destination.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Md Jashim Uddin came up with this call during a breakfast meeting with the Brunei delegation held at a city hotel on Sunday.

He said: "We have on-going development projects to facilitate investment. There are deep seaports, 100 Special Economic Zones, Hi-Tech parks, tourism parks, Nuclear Power plant, Metro Rail, LNG terminal and construction of road and rail on bringing the whole country under a common network. So, our story is now very different from what it was before and Brunei can choose Bangladesh as their next destination for trade and investment."

"We foresee the scope of strengthening cooperation in trade and investment with a focus on development and innovation, food processing, ICT, plastic, petrochemical, shipbuilding, tourism, infrastructure development, petroleum and energy and knowledge transfer to facilitate the transition of the 4IR", he added.

The chief guest Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi urged the Brunei Finance Minister to remove the discriminatory rule for Bangladeshi immigrant workers who have to deposit $1600 while the amount is only $500 for Malaysian workers.

Highlighting some of the major benefits provided in Bangladesh‍‍`s foreign investment policies, the minister informed that besides the gigantic domestic market, investing in Bangladesh will offer additional access to the Indian and Chinese market as these two markets allow most of the made in Bangladesh products duty free.

State minister of Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam urged Brunei to appoint more Bangladeshi manpower as Bangladesh has been focusing more on creating skilled manpower.

Bangladesh may offer a dedicated economic zone for ASEAN countries if Brunei provides capital and marketing assistance, the state minister added.

Brunei Minister at the Prime Minister‍‍`s Office and Minister of Finance & Economy Dr. Amin Abdullah informed that Brunei port is nearer to China, therefore using the port as a transshipment hub would save time and money of Bangladeshi businesses.

Minister of Home Affairs Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman praised the contribution of the skilled Bangladeshi manpower in keeping Brunei economy afloat.

FBCCI director Priti Chakraborty recommended joint ventures to set up training institutes to create skilled manpower in the field of ship building, health and ICT.

BGMEA President Faruque Hassan and FICCI President Naser Ezaz Bijoy also spoke at the meeting.

FBCCI Vice Presidents Md Amin Helaly, Salahuddin Alamgir and Md. Habib Ullah Dawn were present, among others, on the occasion.