UAE and Bangladesh see bright future ahead on trade and investments

Both nations have discussed ways to enhance cooperation in key sectors as well as ways to promote the role of the private sector

The UAE and Bangladesh are looking forward to stronger trade ties that will see both sides scale up investments across several sectors that are key to their expanding economies, experts said at the third Bangladesh Economic Forum in Dubai.

In his keynote speech, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, urged UAE investors to invest in Bangladesh, saying. “Our bilateral relations with the UAE are currently at the highest level. Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is currently leading a large delegation to the UAE to further deepen our ties with the UAE. The business community should take advantage of the strong UAE-Bangladesh relations and come closer to tap the untapped economic potential and create a win-win situation.”

According to the most recent reports, the Bangladeshi economy grew at 6.94 per cent in the 2020-21 fiscal year, with improvement in both services and manufacturing sectors despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Data released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, noted that the country's economic growth exceeded the government's provisional estimate of 5.43 per cent for the last fiscal year.

The gross national income per capita rose to $2,591 last fiscal year, from $2,326 the previous 2019-20 fiscal year; while the actual size of the country's GDP expanded to $416 billion.

Salman F. Rahman, advisor to Bangladesh’s prime minister on Investment and Private Industries, also urged UAE investors to visit Bangladesh and see the “new Bangladesh” for themselves.

“The Bangladesh that you see today, is a changed Bangladesh,” he said. “However, unless you visit and see the changed Bangladesh, you wouldn’t realise the new ground reality. So, I urge all of you to come and visit Bangladesh and see what Bangladesh has to offer and how you could benefit from the growing opportunities in Bangladesh where 165 million people are becoming economically empowered. Our team will be happy to host you and show you around for you to see the changing dynamism and economic opportunities.”

The forum also saw several companies announce their foray and investments into the Bangladesh market. Malabar Gold and Diamonds said that it will invest up to $100 million in the next three to five years; while Danube Homes announced its foray into Bangladesh with a franchise partnership agreement with Dhaka-based Daffodil Group.

“Bangladesh is a very promising market for us. Bangladeshis represent a sizeable customer base amongst our global customer base. We see the demand for quality gold and diamond jewellery is growing rapidly in Bangladesh, which prompted us to enter the country. We expect faster return on investment in Bangladesh due to low-cost of operation that could result in higher return and increase our global footprint. We believe it is the right time to enter the market,” said Ameer CMC, director of Finance and Administration, Malabar Gold and Diamonds.