Dhaka, Sunday, 20 November 2011:

A four-member delegation led by Mr. George Smitherman, former Deputy Premier of Ontario Province of Canada & Minister of Energy & Infrastructure called on Mr. A.K. Azad, President of FBCCI today (20/11/2011) at FBCCI. Mr. George Smitherman expected cooperation from FBCCI to flow Canadian investment especially in electricity generation, water treatment, construction & jute sector in Bangladesh under the Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Among others, Mr. Md. Jashim Uddin, First Vice-President of FBCCI, Mr. Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Vice-President of FBCCI, Obaidur Rahman, Mr. S.M. Nurul Hoque, Director of FBCCI, Mr. Mr. K.B Ahmed, President of Bangladesh–Myanmar Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mr. Byung-Duk Ahn, President & CEO, Mr. Dr. Chul Seung Kee, Senior Vice-President, Mr. Elliot Jinhwa Pak, DGM of KOLON, Mr. Mir Shahabuddin Mohammad, Secretary General) of FBCCI were also present.

Mr. A.K Azad thanked Mr. George Smitherman for his interest to invest in Bangladesh and said Bangladesh could be a suitable place for foreign investment as government policies are going to be more flexible and investment-friendly. President added that the bilateral relationship between Canada and Bangladesh is built upon shared values of democracy and pluralism, with exclusive focus on development cooperation, trade and investment, regional security, immigration and people-to-people links. The value of bilateral trade has more than tripled from $593.0 million in 2005 to $1.6 billion in 2010-2011 and Bangladesh’s exports to Canada for the FY 2010-2011 was US$ 994.67 million while imports were US$ 572.74 million. As of April 2011, the proposed foreign and joint venture investment recorded by the Board of Investment to Bangladesh from Canada stood at US$ 1.8 million which for the FY 2009-2010 was US$ 1.18 million. The actual investment from Canada as of 2009 was US$ 0.21 million generating an employment for 565 employees.

Mr. Md. Jashim Uddin said as we have scarcity of electricity and having limited resources of gas, coal-based electricity generation might be a potential sector for investment. He also urged the delegation to invest especially solar power, water treatment, high value-added garments manufacturing, textiles and jute as all facilities are available in Bangladesh.

Mr. George Smitherman expected more cooperation from FBCCI in utilizing their investment potentialities and said Bangladesh might be a FDI destination and appreciated Bangladesh economic growth rate and export earnings nonetheless global recession. He also said they are more interested to invest in electricity generation, water treatment, and high value-added RMG & jute sectors if Bangladesh provides favorable environment.

Both sides emphasised on further strengthening the bilateral trade and economic relations between Canada & Bangladesh. Press Release