Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Pakistan, Md Iqbal Hussain Khan on Monday invited the business community to invest in his country for cementing business ties between the two countries.
“Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) has a lot of potential to be engaged with Bangladesh. Pakistan produces high quality and variety of cotton which is not being produced in even its neighbouring countries. We have ready-made garments industry,” he said while addressing the MCCI executive here. He informed that both the countries had a common history, adding “we support each other and have strategic interests. Bangladesh is considering importing live calves from Pakistan for better food security besides dates, the High Commissioner said and added that both governments had signed an MoU of 50,000 metric tonnes Pakistani rice”.
In the last 10-14 years, our relations have suffered, Now in 2024, new doors have opened for both countries, business fraternity should grab the new opportunity.”
Hussain maintained. He said that he was delighted to visit the city of saint, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture and Central Cotton Research Institute (CRRI), adding that he had visited Bahawalpur too. Education is the prime sector for development of the country including economy and social economy, the high commissioner informed.
Earlier, MCCI president Bakhtawar Tanvir Sheikh said that Pakistan-Bangladesh had cordial relations based on a common religion and shared struggle for independence.
The bilateral economic relation is also quite healthy as Pakistani investors have invested billions of dollars in various sectors of Bangladesh namely, leather, textile and garments.
Furthermore, both countries are the founding member of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). During the fiscal year 2023-24, Bangladesh imported goods worth $627.8 million from Pakistan while exporting goods valued at $61.98 million. About 55 percent of Pakistan’s total exports to Bangladesh come from the textile and apparel sector, while most of Bangladesh’s exports rely on the ready made garment sector. This highlights the scope for diversifying the range of products involved in import-export activities, he explained.
Sheikh stressed the need of direct flights from Multan, Lahore to Dhaka to facilitate the businessmen.
Deputy High Commissioner, Amin Ul Islam, MCCI SVP, Kh Mohsin Masood, VP Azhar Baloch, Women Wing Convener, Romana Tanvir Sheikh, former president, Kh Muhammad Hussain, Sheikh Zaffar and others attended the meeting.