Home ›› 09 Sep 2021 ›› News
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Rizwan Rahman on Wednesday urged Netherlands investors to invest in Bangladesh’s agriculture sector.
He also called upon the investors and entrepreneurs of Netherlands to take part in the B2B matchmaking sessions and the virtual summit to be held from October 26 to November 1, 2021 tiled “Bangladesh Trade and Investment Summit”.
“The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Netherlands is $1.23 billion where Bangladesh imported $138 million and exported $1.09 billion. Netherlands is strong enough in agricultural sector and Bangladeshi entrepreneurs can get their technical know-how,” he said at the courtesy meeting with Netherlands Ambassador to Bangladesh Anne Van Leeuwen at DCCI office in the capital.
Referring to the contribution of agriculture sector to the GDP (about 13 per cent), Rizwan said Netherlands investors can invest more in Bangladesh in different potential sectors as well.
He said that they would also discuss different promising sectors of Bangladesh including infrastructure, leather goods, pharmaceuticals, automotive and light engineering, plastic, agro and food processing, jute and textiles, fast-moving consumer goods and retail business during the upcoming international summit.
Ambassador Leeuwen said that he would work as a bridge between the businessmen of the Netherlands and Bangladesh to boost bilateral trade.
“Bangladesh will need huge investment in near future for its Delta Plan. Netherlands is the second largest agricultural products exporter in the world. Bangladesh is also an agricultural country and has a huge local market to utilise,” he said.
The ambassador urged Bangladesh government to introduce modern technology in agricultural sector to ensure more productivity and diversification.
“Dutch investors will have huge potentials in the sustainable river dredging development and water infrastructure sector,” he mentioned.
DCCI Senior Vice-President NKA Mobin and Vice-President Monowar Hossain were also present during the meeting.
According to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, Bangladesh received $2.56 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, of which 15.61 per cent or $400.21 million came from the Netherlands.
BB data showed that investors from the Netherlands invested $183.47 million in food processing, $174 million in power sector, $12.42 million in cement, $11.25 million in trading, $6.18 million in textile and weaving and $2.23 million in leather and leather goods.
