Online Desk: ASEAN Ambassadors had a meeting with ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman at ICC Bangladesh Secretariat on Thursday.

The ambassadors were briefed about the activities of the ICC headquarters and ICC Bangladesh as well as discussed promotion of bilateral trade and investment prospects Bangladesh and ASEAN, said a media statement.

Mahbubur Rahman said ASEAN member states are home to a total of 661 million people with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.08 trillion and trade exceeding $2.7 trillion. So, there is a huge market for Bangladesh in ASEAN nations.

Bangladesh highly values the ASEAN community and the constructive role it plays in the global arena. According to 2020 data, Bangladesh imports goods worth nearly US$7.0 billion from 10 ASEAN states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. On the other hand, Bangladesh’s exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are still very paltry, less than $1.0 billion per annum, he added. Imports by Bangladesh from ASEAN is much more than its export. Therefore, urged the Ambassadors to use their good offices for increasing imports from Bangladesh to reduce the trade gap.

Sheela Pillai, chair of ASEAN Dhaka Committee & Head of Mission, High Commission of the Republic of Singapore to Bangladesh thanked ICCB President for arranging the meeting and expressed her concern regarding trade gap. She gave importance to diversification of the export basket which will facilitate Bangladesh’s export to ASEAN countries.

Haji Haris Bin Othman, high commissioner of Brunei Darussalam to Bangladesh pointed out the agro-based products and meat as potential products for export to Brunei.

Haznah Binte Md. Hashim, high commissioner of Malaysia to Bangladesh said Malaysia has huge investment in Bangladesh and we are looking forward to increasing investment here. She pointed out about the taxation regime in Bangladesh which is one of the impediments to attracting investment from Malaysia to Bangladesh.

ICCB Vice President Naser Ezaz Bijoy mentioned that Bangladesh could be an important development partner and act as the bridge between South and ASEAN nations because of its location. He hoped that Ambassadors would promote connectivity and encourage visits by business delegations from ASEAN and vice versa for promotion trade and investment.

The meeting was also attended by Leo Tito L Ausan, Jr, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to Bangladesh;Md. Fazlul Hoque, ICCB Executive Board Member; Panom Thongprayoon, Minister Counsellor, Royal Thai Embassy; ICCB Secretary General Ataur Rahman, ICCB General Manager Ajay Bihari Saha & Deputy General Manager Syeda Shahnewaz Lotika.