ICCB highlights Bangladesh investment opportunities

Bangladesh offers enormous investment opportunities for all investors, including those from Vietnam, ICCB President Mahbubur Rahman said.

Rahman spoke at the inaugural of a three-day workshop on international trade finance, alternate dispute resolution, logistics and business development jointly organised by the International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh, and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in Hanoi, Vietnam.

“Bangladesh is recognised as an investment-friendly country as it offers the most liberal investment opportunities in South Asia, featuring 100 percent foreign equity with unrestricted exit policy, easy remittance of royalty, repatriation of profits, and protection of foreign investments,” Rahman said in a statement.

Bangladesh offers export processing zones to foreign investors and special economic zones to various countries interested to invest, he said.

Vietnam's exports to Bangladesh amounted to $570 million, against Bangladesh's exports of about $33 million in 2015, he said.

International payments and logistics services play critical roles in global economic integration to reduce the risk of international commerce, said Hoang Quang Phong, vice chairman of VCCI. 

Of these, the use of letter of credit is the most prominent and widely applied in global trade, and developing trade finance products and logistics services is of pressing importance for bilateral trade between Vietnam and South Asian countries, which saw a drop last year, Phong said.

Two–way trade dropped from $758 million in 2014 to about $600 million last year, according to Md Shahab Ullah, Bangladesh's ambassador to Vietnam.

He also urged more Vietnamese firms to enter Bangladesh to seek business opportunities and for the two countries to join hands to simplify the banking procedures for frequent trade facilitation.

The trade framework must be improved to help co-operation between the two countries, especially with an advantageous sea line for logistics services, which is expected to boost two-way trade to reach $1 billion this year, said Vu Quand Minh, director of the Economic Department of Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.