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Salman F Rahman, the prime minister’s private industry and investment adviser, has urged the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to grant 137 Bangladeshi products duty-free access to its market.
Rahman made this request on Saturday during a virtual meeting with Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, the minister for commerce and investment of Saudi Arabia.
Rahman arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier the same day with a high-level government and business delegation. Saudi Arabia imports garments, leather goods, plastic goods, frozen fish and pharmaceuticals from Bangladesh, according to a press release.
Saudi Arabia could take the necessary steps to import halal meat from Bangladesh as well and thus minimise the trade imbalance between the two countries, he said.
The current bilateral trade volume between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia is $1.3 billion.
Rahman emphasised on the need for more Saudi investment in Bangladesh to materialise the country’s Vision 2041.
He also informed the Saudi commerce minister that Bangladesh is ready to set up a special economic zone exclusively for Saudi investors with the necessary facilities.
Rahman asked for increased investment in Bangladesh under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) signed by the two countries in 2018, to which the Saudi commerce minister responded positively.
He also proposed to form a working committee to take effective steps in this regard.
Rahman sought Saudi investment for setting up various mega projects, including the Dhaka to Payra Port rail connection, and transforming Cox’s Bazar into an international standard tourism hub.
Following Rahman’s requests, Qasabi responded positively and assured that a Saudi delegation would visit Bangladesh at their convenience.
The Saudi commerce minister went on to say that they attach the highest importance to the farsighted leadership and bilateral relations of the two countries.
He also assured Bangladesh of taking necessary steps for signing an MoU on a PPP between the two countries that would open the doors for direct investment from Saudi companies in various projects of Bangladesh.
Mohammad Javed Patwari, Bangladesh’s ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; M Sirazul Islam, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority; Sheikh Yusuf Harun, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority; and Sultana Afroz, chief executive officer of the PPP Authority, among others, were present at the event.
(TDS)
