A federation with all chambers of Europe can bring in more FDI

As big investment is not coming from the European Union to Bangladesh, if a federation with all chambers of Europe can be formed, it will be easy to bring more foreign direct investment here, President of Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DBCCI) Md Anwar Shawkat Afser told The Business Post’s Rafikul Islam in an exclusive interview

You are reportedly going to form a federation with all chambers of Europe. Why?

We have nine European chambers and commerce of industries such as DBCCI, Spain-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SBCCI), Nordic Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bangladesh (NCCI), Switzerland-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SBCCI), France Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFB) and Bangladesh-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI).

As big investment is not coming from European Union to Bangladesh, it will be easy to bring more Foreign Direct investment (FDI) here if we can build a ‘federation’ with all our chambers.

Our federation’s name will be ‘European Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries Federation. ”We have already held a pre-meeting in this regard. The federation will be launched very soon.”

After forming the federation, we can present our various demands to the EU members in a disciplined manner. We hope that we can bring duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) facility for long time for Bangladeshi goods after LDC graduation as well. Then, our export volume will further go up.

The Netherlands is the second-largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. How can DBCCI play its role to mechanize Bangladesh’s agriculture sector?

Now you see agro-based crops, seeds and technology in Bangladesh. All of those come from the Netherlands. Currently, we are trying to bring ‘modern technology’ from the country to improve our harvest system.

It is possible to cultivate four times more crops on a one square feet of land using modern technology compared to manual means. We are going forward to this path now.

Actually mechanization in agricultural sector of Bangladesh is very significant now to cultivate more agro goods to meet the demand for millions of people here.

We should use the technology of the Netherlands to meet our domestic demand for agro products as Bangladesh is a small country with huge population. Even, we can export our agro goods as well if we use modern technology amply.

Your have plan to arrange a-24 year celebration of DBCCI. Tell us about your success story in bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the Netherlands?

All the investments including that of NGOs in Bangladesh are our association’s success. Besides, Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP) 2100, dredging, blue economy and water resources activities here are being done based on the Netherlands’s concept.

DBCCI’s mission is to facilitate and foster trade, investment and opportunities between the Netherlands and Bangladesh and to encourage joint ventures and exchange of knowledge by acting as a catalyst for commercial energies of both countries.

We have strengthened the bond between Bangladesh and the Netherlands to develop trade and business. Networking, member benefits and advocacy are our key areas to focus on. We send trade delegations to the Netherlands, hold tradeshows between the two countries, business to business (B2B) meeting and cultural events etc.

Our upcoming event titled ‘BIDA-DBCCI Trade and Investment Delegation to the Netherlands 2022’ will be held soon. We hope that a significant number of FDI will come and new venture may attract from Europe to Bangladesh.

The Dutch logistics sector is world class. How can DBCCI support Bangladesh to make our logistics system effective to enhance trade competitiveness?

There are huge labours in Bangladesh who work for reasonable salary. Despite huge population, Bangladesh lack skilled manpower. Now we need expertise and technology. We should work in joint venture with the Netherlands. We are putting emphasis on bringing Dutch investors to our country to get the support to improve logistics sector.

Do you face any challenge in bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the Netherlands?

We have to face challenge while doing business. Bureaucracy is the key challenge for us. We should overcome it.

What type of government policy support do you look for?

There are a lot of polices in place. We just want ‘implementation’ of those policies.

Recently DBCCI got new committee and what is your expectation from it?

Now we have a total of 278 members. We want to work more all together for the sake of boosting the country’s economy.

Please, tell us about your personal business and future plan

I am actually shipping businessman. I do export and import business alongside dredging business. Over the last 25 years, our Sakhi Group has made core strategic investments in shipping, logistics and supply chain management, mining, ceramics, petroleum, telecommunications, airline representations, deep sea fishing, construction and engineering, consultancy services, project cargo handling and commodities trading.

You know that the Netherlands is number one in the globe in dredging system. We try to utilize their technology in our country.

We also try to bring more investment from the country as there are huge opportunities for investment in Bangladesh including agro and food processing sector.