They said about 90 percent of around 15,000 restaurants worth 3 million pound are owned and managed by the British citizens of Bangladeshi origin and India is the main supplier of spices, including onion, garlic and ginger to those restaurants.

"Being a farm-based economy, Bangladesh can produce a large portion of these spices for export to the UK and can earn a huge remittance," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nandan Group Masrur Chowdhury.

Bangladesh Journalists Forum on Migration organised the discussion on 'Bangladeshi Diaspora in the UK: Their Linkages with Origin' at British Council auditorium in Sylhet while Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit and British Council, Dhaka supported the meeting.

"The negative mindset of the NRBs about the country's investment climate should be changed. There are problems everywhere in the world, and the investors have to tackle the problems," Masrur Chowdhury said.

Referring to Nandan Group, a five-year old joint venture by 15 Bangladeshi origin British citizens, he said the group has planned to set up at least 15 stores in Bangladesh and one main store in the UK to export the local products.