Trade with Nordic countries on the rise

Bangladesh's trade with Nordic countries has bounced back after the Covid-19 pandemic and is now growing gradually, said Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun.

He made this comment at a seminar on promoting business on Tuesday.

The embassies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, in collaboration with the Nordic Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bangladesh, organised the seminar to promote Nordic businesses and investments in Bangladesh.

Humayun said the amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) from Nordic countries was not very large as of now but in the years before the pandemic the FDI flow from northern European nations was rising.

"This is one area where Bangladesh wishes to see more progress," he added.

In fiscal year 2019-20, the Bangladesh-Nordic trade volume stood close to $1.67 billion, which is greatly and very helpfully in Bangladesh's favour with Bangladeshi exports amounting to $1.35 billion while imports $0.2 billion. The seminar is a part of an overall Nordic celebration to commemorate 50 years of bilateral relations between the northern European countries and Bangladesh.

The industries minister mentioned that more than 5 per cent of Bangladesh's total exports go only to the Nordic region.

From the standpoint of Bangladeshi exports, this is quite impressive given the fact that Nordic countries are not very populous and a lot of the shipments are comprised of consumer goods.

"Some Nordic investments in Bangladesh, especially in the areas of telecommunications and ICT, manufacturing and logistics, agriculture and food production as well as power and energy, truly stand out," he said.

Currently, more than 100 Nordic companies do business in Bangladesh, which is a signal of a dynamic partnership in transition.

Some of the Nordic investments and imports have even gone beyond business purposes and helped empower millions of people. Winnie Estrup Petersen, ambassador of Denmark to Bangladesh, Espen Rikter-Svendsen, ambassador of Norway to Bangladesh, and Alex Berg von Linde, ambassador of Sweden to Bangladesh, stressed the importance and need for sustainability.

They also discussed the areas where Nordic companies are well placed to supply many advanced skills, goods, services and technical solutions that Bangladesh will need to continue on its path of sustainable development and economic growth.

"We, the Nordics, bring our long-standing experience in balancing social progress, economic growth, and sustainability. We bring our values, knowledge and resources; and be it for a green economic transition or the blue economy, we are here with you," said Norwegian ambassador Svendsen.

He went on to say that Bangladesh should join forces with Nordic countries on issues such as climate action, multilateralism, democracy, human rights, gender equality and inclusive development.

"Here's to 50 years and beyond!" Svendsen said.

The ambassadors believe the event also created an opportunity for Nordic companies to network with their Bangladeshi counterparts and highlight their work related to sustainability in Bangladesh.

The scope for increased commercial interactions between Nordic countries and Bangladesh was also emphasised during the event, where the added value of Nordic companies in areas such as sustainability, green transition, blue economy, smart cities, urbanisation, and digitalisation was discussed as well.

The strong relation between Nordic countries and Bangladesh was reaffirmed as well while the speakers opined that there remained a scope to strengthen economic ties further through increased trade and investment.