Bangladesh seeks joint ventures from Indian investors

Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali has urged the Indian investors to launch joint venture projects in Bangladesh for mutual benefits of the two neighbours.

He also said political leadership on both sides today recognise that the destinies of "our two neighbouring countries are inescapably intertwined, and we must grow together."

The high commissioner was speaking at the inauguration of the Silver Jubilee of the International Guwahati Trade Fair in Guwahati, Assam on Friday, the High Commission said.

He said the Indian investors should take advantage of “our cheaper labour costs and proximity to North-East markets to set up industries in Bangladesh and export the products to India.

"North-East’s abundant natural resources and raw materials can be imported to Bangladesh for value addition and re-exported to India or elsewhere. This is taking place but needs to be done on a much larger scale for a win-win situation," he said.

“Bangladesh has a huge skilled and semi-skilled young workforce, and the country offers attractive incentives for the development of joint venture projects.... on a 'buy back' basis".

Muazzem Ali referred to Bangladesh’s growing cooperation with India’s North-East. “It has achieved rapid development and its further gathering momentum,” he said, adding “this is largely attributed to the peaceful and stable environment of the sub-region in the past several years."

He also mentioned that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi had taken the partnership between the countries 'far beyond a strategic partnership', touching upon 'virtually all areas of human endeavour'.

“Our opportunities are endless—once we are able to realise these, it would enormously contribute to taking the overall Bangladesh-India bilateral relations to a 'greater height'," he said.