Wales business delegation to visit Bangladesh

A delegation of leading businessmen from Wales is coming to Dhaka for a week-long visit to get a feel of the growing Bangladesh economy and market.

The British High Commission in Dhaka on Thursday said that the delegation, comprising 25 businessmen, would arrive in Dhaka on Jan 25 to take business relations with Bangladesh forward.

The Wales Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce (WBCC) will help showcase leading Welsh Companies for the local business community.

Prominent organisations such as the University of South Wales, the largest University in Wales, and TechniQuest, the leading Science Centre in Wales, are amongt the businesses accompanying this mission.

They will aim at developing business relations between Wales and Bangladesh in the fields of ‘Knowledge Businesses & Knowledge Transfer’.

Moreover, the High Commission said, they are also keen “to assist Bangladesh and Wales to start developing bilateral trade and political relationships”.

High Commissioner Robert Gibson said he was “delighted” that such a diverse range of Welsh companies would be in Bangladesh to showcase the best of Welsh business and entrepreneurship here.

“Wales and the UK are world leaders in many knowledge based fields and I'm certain that exciting future collaboration will emerge as a part of this mission,” he said.

Dilabor A Hussain, Chair and leader of the delegation, ahead of the mission said, this was “the second instalment of our chamber’s activity to build a new and better trading relationship between Wales and Bangladesh”.

“Wales with its high tech businesses and industrial heritage has a real synergy with Bangladesh as it develops its own industrial heritage.

“Wales can provide manufacturing, mining and technological expertise to Bangladesh so that it's better placed within the growing international market,” Hussain was quoted as saying in the media release.

The first official Welsh government trade mission came to Bangladesh in 2011.

Some 23 delegates had then explored the trading opportunities in Bangladesh in the energy and renewable sector.

The delegation would visit the main cities - Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong.

They will meet ministers and leading government officials at the ministries of commerce and education, and national chambers and industry leaders.

The UK was the second largest cumulative investor or source of foreign direct investment in Bangladesh in the 2012-2013 fiscal, according to Bangladesh Bank, with £159.5m worth of investments in projects.

Some 100 UK firms are operating in Bangladesh with their main centres of operation focused around Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet.

There are opportunities for UK firms in several sectors including energy, infrastructure, ports and logistics, environment and water, education and skills, and medical and pharmaceuticals, the British High Commission says.