Businesses for long-term ties in trade
German businessmen look to ways of forming long-term trade and investment ties with Bangladesh instead of making quick money, said the leader of the delegation accompanying visiting German President Christian Wulff.
"We have not come here for easy buck. We are here for building a long-term relationship," said Dr Karl-Ernst Brauner, director of the Department of Foreign Trade Policy of Germany's Ministry of Economics and Technology, at a luncheon meeting yesterday.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) organised the meet at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in honour of the visiting German business delegation and entourage with Wulff.
The remark of Brauner came after FBCCI President AK Azad called upon German entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh, which has been growing at around 6 percent a year for the past decade.
"We have 50 million trained and educated workforce and sizeable domestic market of 147 million people and steady economic growth," Azad said.
Azad also cited growing export earnings in the past two decades, and scope for the country's duty-free exports of most of its products to EU, Japan Australia and Canada.
Noting bilateral trade between the two countries, Brauner said Bangladesh enjoys a huge trade surplus with Germany. But Germany is not so concerned about the trade deficit, he added.
At another programme, while calling on Bangladesh's Commerce Minister Faruk Khan, Brauner said Germany will raise the concern of Bangladesh regarding a proposed duty-waiver facility to Pakistan by EU at the next World Trade Organisation meeting in Brussels.
“I will raise the matter to the meeting. But, I have not made up my mind yet in this regard,” Brauner said after meeting Khan at his secretariat office.
Pakistan demanded a duty waiver from EU for its 75 products, mainly textile and readymade garments, as the country faced devastating floods last year.
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