Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Thursday said the United States is Bangladesh’s major commercial and development partner and Dhaka should exploit trade and investment opportunities of the US investors.
He said foreign trade with the United States is increasing day by day.
Despite the ongoing global economic instability, the United States remains as the single largest market for Bangladesh’s garment exports. Bangladesh is now the second largest exporter of apparels in the world market. Apart from readymade garments, Bangladesh is exporting frozen food products and leather products to the USA.
The commerce minister observed this as chief guest of an inaugural programme of the “28th US Trade Show-2022”, organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AMCHAM) at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka, on Thursday.
The largest market for Bangladesh’s IT products and services is the USA. In the last fiscal year (2021-2022), Bangladesh exported goods worth about $10.41 billion to the USA.
Some 20 percent of Bangladesh’s export receipts come from the United States. The Commerce Minister said many American products are imported to Bangladesh. At present, the amount of inbound shipment stands around $3 billion. The imported products include aeroplanes, cotton, wheat, soybean oil and ICT products.
Bangladesh has huge investment potential in energy, infrastructure construction, development of communication systems, agro business, ICT, education and tourism sectors. The government of Bangladesh has announced a bundle of facilities for incoming foreign direct investment.
The US investors will benefit more if they invest in Bangladesh, Munshi said.
Assistant Secretary to Commerce for Global Market and Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service, Arun Venkataraman---who is currently visiting Bangladesh---spoke as a special guest at the event.
American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AMCHAM) President Syed Ershad Ahmed presided over the programme. US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas, also spoke, among others.
Tipu Munshi and Arun Venkataraman jointly inaugurated the Dhaka office of the United States Commercial Service.
