Ambassador of Egypt to Bangladesh Omar Mohie Eldin Ahmed Fahmy on Tuesday called upon the Bangladeshi importers to import more petrochemicals and fertilizers from Egypt.
Fahmy said that despite 50-year of diplomatic friendly relation between Bangladesh and Egypt, the commercial relation has not yet reached to the expected level, where the bilateral trade in the fiscal year 2022-23 was only 180.55 million US dollars. The Egyptian envoy made the remarks while he held a view exchange meeting with the President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) Ashraf Ahmed at DCCI, Matijheel in the capital.
He also said that an Egyptian company has already invested in Bangladesh's telecommunication sector and they are functioning quite well here in Bangladesh. The Ambassador noted that the pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh is flourishing day by day and there is a strong demand for cancer drugs in the Egyptian market, which Bangladeshi entrepreneurs can take advantage of. DCCI President Ashraf Ahmed said that Bangladesh's frozen food, shrimp and delicious mangoes are being exported in large quantities to other countries of the world including Europe, which have also a great opportunity in Egypt.
He requested the entrepreneurs of Egypt to import product or services under Information Technology (IT), leather products, ready-made garments, ceramics, medicine etc. from Bangladesh. Besides, Ashraf Ahmed emphasized on Egypt's experience and technical support for the development of Bangladesh's river-based tourism industry.
The DCCI President opined that Bangladesh can be considered as a gatewayto South and Southeast Asian countries in terms of increasing Egyptian export.
He also requested the Egyptian entrepreneurs to come up with investments in Bangladesh’s economic zones or export processing zones.
Ashraf Ahmed also put emphasis on the development of bilateral relations between the trade organizations of two countries and signing of memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian trade organizations for faster business to business connection. \ The Egyptian envoy further mentioned that Bangladesh can utilize the port of Egypt as a 'transshipment hub' while exporting to products to Europe and other parts of the world. Also, Egypt could be one of thebest alternative sources of onion import to meet Bangladesh's demand, he opined.
DCCI Senior Vice President Malik Talha Ismail Bari, Vice President Md. Junaed Ibna Ali and the Deputy Chief of Mission of Egyptian Embassy Soheila Mahran were also present during the meeting.
