"Packaging industry is a growing sector in Bangladesh," said Shabir Ahmed, chairman of Pakistan Bed-wear Association. "I think investment in packaging industry will be lucrative."

"We want to exploit preferential trading benefits that Bangladesh enjoys in various sectors," Ahmed said.

The 10-member Pakistani entrepreneurs made the observations during a meeting with Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury in Dhaka.

Among others, President of Bangladesh Textile Mills Associa-tion Abdul Awal and high officials of the commerce ministry were present.

The visitors also discussed ways to strengthen regional relationship and create a strong regional trade bloc to sustain in the global market.

"We are surprised to see the investment facilities here," said an excited Rashid Salim, a member of the visiting team and chief executive of Ideal International, a textile manufacturer in Karachi.

"We will analyse what we have got here, and then we will decide when and how to invest in Bangladesh," he added.

"Production cost will reduce significantly if we can set up industries here," said Zahur Ahmed, another member of the delegation.

He said they are likely to form a business council and prepare an action plan for making the investment efforts practical.

They, however, called upon the government to remove the bottlenecks, including poor port infrastructure, banking system, and inadequate power and gas supply to boost regional and bilateral trade.

Shabir Ahmed informed the meeting that Saarc countries' trade is only 5 percent among themselves, while it is 65 percent among the members of the European Union.

Welcoming the Pakistani businessmen, the commerce minister urged them to invest in Bangladesh to avail the GSP (generalised system of preference) and duty-free access facilities.