Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) President Rizwan Rahman on Tuesday said that direct sea port connectivity between Chattogram of Bangladesh and Ranong of Thailand would increase trade volume in both countries.
He made the statement while addressing a bilateral business meeting with Thai Ambassador to Dhaka Makawadee Sumitmor at DCCI office in the capital.
During the meeting, DCCI president informed that bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Thailand reached $837.06m in 2019-20.
“Bangladesh’s total export to Thailand was only $35.46m, whereas import from Thailand was at $801.3m in 2020,” he informed.
Rizwan said that export from Bangladesh experienced an upward trend in 2021 as they reached $39m from $35.46m in 2020.
“In terms of FDI stock in Bangladesh, Thailand is the 15th largest investor in this country but there are huge untapped opportunities for the Thai investors especially in the areas of infrastructure, automotive & light engineering, agro and food processing and tourism and health services,” said Rizwan.
He also requested the envoy to relocate labour-intensive industries in Thailand to Bangladesh.
Makawadee Sumitmor said, there is a trade gap between Thailand and Bangladesh. The expansion will boost up the relation between these two countries.
“In the next year, Thai Embassy in Dhaka will organize a road show to celebrate the diplomatic relation of 50 year between Bangladesh and Thailand,” Makawadee informed.
She also said that as the Covid cases are relatively coming down, the Thai government is planning to open the country step by step and by the next two months it will be possible to open fully.
