Bangladesh targets Caribbean, Latin American markets

In a bid to expand markets for Bangladeshi products in Caribbean and Latin American regions, Bangladesh has opened a sales and display centre in Trinidad and Tobago.
Commerce Minister Faruk Khan inaugurated the centre styled 'Bangladesh Trade Centre', opened by Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau at Trincity Industrial Estate in Port of Spain on the sidelines of Commonwealth conference on Friday.
"The centre will be a milestone in Bangladesh's foreign trade," Faruk Khan said.
The first of its kind in Bangladesh's strategy of offshore marketing, the centre will serve as a platform for buyers abroad and Bangladeshi manufacturers in a number of ways, said a statement.
The centre's immediate target will be Trinidad and Tobago, a republic comprising the two southernmost of the Caribbean Islands, situated off the northeastern coast of Venezuela.
Bangladesh's High Commissioner to England Dr M Saidur Rahman Khan, Honorary Consul General in Trinidad Razai Azard Rahaman and Trinidad's envoy to Venezuela Maria Eugene Marcano were present at the inaugural ceremony.
The ultimate objective of Bangladesh Trade Centre (BTC) will be to organise visit of Caribbean businesspeople to Bangladesh.
It will also directly contact all potential traders and provide them with necessary trade information. The BTC will undertake visits to international business houses of the region who are engaged in import trade. Another goal will be to develop good working relationship with different trade bodies.
Besides, it will organise country fairs in different parts of the Caribbean as well as Trinidad and Tobago. In the same vein, it will participate in all national and international trade fairs there.
It will showcase Bangladeshi products, provide necessary trade information and do the needful for sealing contracts.
The centre will have a sizable ready stock of popular products for catering to the immediate needs of the wholesalers and distributors of the country. However, it envisages the whole of the Caribbean region as a significant trade partner and will expand its activity accordingly.
After consolidating foothold in the region, it will seek to bring the vast African market within its ambit.
BTC's first operational strategy will be to publicise its presence in Port of Spain. It will run an intensive publicity campaign throughout the year. Both the electronic and print media will be used for the purpose.
Necessary promotional materials will be developed for targeted distribution. Moreover, information seminars will be organised from time to time in vantage commercial locations. The importance of South-South trade will be emphasised.
BTC will gather information about the demand pattern in the region and send those to the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs and exporters.
The centre will operate on the basis of public-private partnership with specified commercial goals and seek to achieve pre-determined time-bound sales targets. In all, BTC will strive to establish itself as a successful trade mission of Bangladesh abroad.
The initial timeframe of BTC extends over two and a half years. The first six months will be considered as learning period, which will be followed by intensive commercial operation in the next two years. By mid-2012, BTC aims to become a success story of offshore marketing of Bangladeshi products, the statement added.