Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran has said that Bangladesh should strengthen connectivity with his country’s ports, and can tap on its strong linkages across Southeast Asia.
The Southeast Asian country’s minister said this in a webinar on business opportunities in Bangladesh, reported Singapore’s Business Times on Thursday.
The webinar, organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) in collaboration with Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore Food Manufacturers' Association and several other Bangladeshi organisations, is a part of SBF's efforts to help Singapore businesses navigate regional markets, the report said.
The minister said Singapore and Bangladesh should look to collaborate on improving connectivity and infrastructure so as to build on each other's competitive advantages and benefit from the larger global economy.
He believes that the enhanced connectivity between the two countries will help make their economies more resilient, adding that Singapore stands prepared to help Bangladesh with its port-expansion efforts.
In his opening remarks, Iswaran also noted that Singapore's bilateral trade with Bangladesh has been growing in tandem with a rising foreign direct investment, which amounted to S$1.9 billion in sectors such as energy and manufacturing of consumer goods.
Next year, Singapore will celebrate its 50th anniversary of establishing bilateral relationships with Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is also Singapore's second-largest trading partner in South Asia, with a total bilateral trade of S$4.5 billion in 2019, the report said.
Iswaran said he was hopeful that the two countries will be able to continue working together to improve their individual infrastructure, which will enable economic and social development as well as promote inclusive growth.
The webinar featured a discussion on best practices for doing business in Bangladesh. Panellists gave insights into business-to-business collaboration opportunities and how Singapore's private sector can play a role in supporting Bangladesh's growth.
Close to 100 Singapore and Bangladeshi organisations across a range of sectors attended the webinar, which is part of the South Asia edition of SBF's digital space called Fyistival. More than a third of Singaporean businesses were new to investment opportunities in Bangladesh.
