Ontario widens opportunities for Bangladeshi businesses

Bangladeshi businesses now can explore wider trade opportunities in Canada’s Ontario province as a “Bangladesh-Canada Business Forum-2019” in Toronto on Tuesday sought to deepen engagements. 

 “The priority of Ontario province is to generate mass employment for which it has opened its economy to foreign entrepreneurs where Bangladesh can mark its strong foothold,” said Victor Fedeli, minister of economic development, job creation and trade of Ontario.

The forum was organised by the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Toronto and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) attended by a 19-member Bangladeshi business delegation led by Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.

Sheikh Fazle Fahim, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), and Rocco Rossi, president of the OCC, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the event.

Fedeli remarked that the unprecedented MoU sought to speed up trade and investment, says a statement. 

Munshi termed the forum steppingstones to new heights in business relations “to build business links (to)… partner and work in-tandem” and to exchange views and ideas on sector specific comparative advantages in investment, trade promotion and win-win business.

He expected the forum to gradually encompass other provinces.

Two panel discussions were held on ways the two countries enhanced business with each other while the forum attempted to look at patterns and needs across the economies and global supply chains.

It also sought to draw attention to high-value apparels, light engineering, pharma and biologics, digital services, industrial use of jute fibre, marine fishing, frozen food, logistics, transport and communication, higher education, vocational diploma, value added services and tertiary healthcare.

Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh high commissioner to Canada; Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, chairman of the National Board of Revenue; Paban Chowdhury, executive chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, and Syed Almas Kabir, president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, were present.