Businesses at a discussion said diversifying products and export destinations are vital for Bangladesh to attain the target of $50 billion exports within 2021. Besides, the government should work properly for eliminating the barriers to attain desired foreign investment to turn Bangladesh into a middle income country.They made the observations while speaking at the discussion on the eve of reaching US$ 2 billion bilateral trade level between Bangladesh and Canada in the calendar year 2015.Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Canada Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly organised the discussion. Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Rupali Chowdhury called on the government to eliminate different barriers including lack of infrastructure and skilled workforce which hinder trade and investments.‘Foreign investors know about various barriers in terms of making investments in Bangladesh, but they will have to understand that foreign investors in the country are making money from here,’ she said. ‘If others come, they will also be able to make things happen,’ Rupali added. MH Rahman, former DCCI president, said, ‘We should diversify our exports by introducing new products except Readymade Garments.’ Canada Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Masud Rahman said, ‘RMG contributes about 95 per cent of Bangladesh’s exports to Canada.’Trade between Bangladesh and Canada could increase to US$ 5 billion by 2021 and to achieve the target, Bangladesh should drastically look for export diversification, he said. Canadian high commissioner Benoit-Pierre Laramee said,’ As Bangladesh develops, our bilateral relationship is shifting from aid to trade.’ ‘Canada remains a significant provider of development assistance to Bangladesh, but increasingly this assistance is focused on strengthening Bangladesh’s ability to compete in global economy,’ he said. ‘The remarkable rise in our bilateral trade over the past 15 years shows that this shift is happening quickly,’ Laramee said. Roger Hubert, regional head of H&M for Bangladesh and Pakistan, said Bangladesh should focus on some major key issues of Sustainable Development Goal to attain its target worth US$ 50 billion export by 2021. ‘Canada is the seventh largest single market export destination of Bangladesh which has become possible due to continuous GSP facility extended to enhance our access to Canadian market during the last decade,’ DCCI president Hossain Khaled said. Despite Bangladesh and Canada enjoys healthy trade growth, Canadian investment in Bangladesh is still very insignificant, he said. Former DCCI president R Maksud Khan said, ‘Trade relations between Bangladesh and Canada first started in 1952 when a Canadian company installed a 50MW hydro-power plant.’ ‘As the power demand of Bangladesh is on the rise Canada can take the scope of investment in the sector,’ he said. NORDIC Chamber of Commerce vice-president Roger Hubert, DCCI vice-president K Atique-e-Rabbani, DCCI director AKD Khair Mohammad Khan, DCCI former director Khairul Majid Mahmud, former senior vice-president MS Shekil Chowdhury and convenor Nurul Haque were also present on the occasion.
