The Bangladeshi business delegation from Hong Kong on this occasion operates in real estate, garments and textiles, garment accessories, cement, construction materials, chemicals, minerals, e-commerce, banking, maritime shipping, Australian food and beverages, power generators, general trade, and more.

New potential for cooperation

Opening the seminar, Mr. Doan Duy Khuong, Vice Chairman of VCCI, emphasized that Vietnam-Bangladesh relations have been built on a long and positive tradition.

In recent years, economic relations between Vietnam and Bangladesh have seen many positive changes, especially since the establishment of the Joint Trade Sub-Committee, which held its first meeting in April 2015.

“While bilateral import-export turnover between the two countries reached just USD 14 million in 2002, it had risen to a record USD 813.5 million by 2018. In the first 8 months of 2019 alone, two-way trade between Vietnam and Bangladesh reached USD 527.8 million,” Mr. Khuong said, citing figures from the General Department of Customs.

Over many years, Vietnam’s exports to Bangladesh have mainly consisted of clinker, cement, construction steel and iron, fiber, yarn, fabric, plastic products, rattan, bamboo, sedge and carpets, rubber, computers, electronic products, wood, ceramics and porcelain, among others. Of these, clinker and cement account for about 50% of Vietnam’s total export turnover to Bangladesh.

However, to date, the two sides have signed cooperation agreements covering economics, science and technology, aviation, and other fields.

“Recently, the two sides have exchanged a number of delegations in defense, culture, sports and tourism, and labor, war invalids and social affairs, among others, in order to learn from each other’s experience and sign cooperation agreements on trade, investment, culture, information, and agriculture,” Mr. Khuong said.

Toward a target of USD 1 billion in bilateral trade turnover

 

 

Ms. Samina Naz emphasized the two governments’ expectation that this year and in 2020, bilateral import-export turnover would reach the target of USD 1 billion: “To make this happen, the catalyst and effort of the two countries’ Chambers of Commerce and Industry – of Vietnam and of Bangladesh – are indispensable.”

Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Fazle Azim, Chairman of the Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong, said “Vietnam and Bangladesh have every opportunity to further strengthen bilateral relations and bring economic and trade ties to a new height.”