President Tran Dai Quang has urged the business circles of Vietnam and Bangladesh to devise innovation ideas, thus creating new momentum for stronger trade and investment links between the two countries. 

President Tran Dai Quang speaks at the Vietnam-Bangladesh Business Forum in Dhaka on March 6

Addressing the Vietnam-Bangladesh Business Forum in Dhaka on March 6 as part of his State visit to Bangladesh, the President expressed his joy at the progress of the bilateral relationship, affirming that visits by senior officials of the two nations have helped create new impulses for the relations. 

Cooperation mechanisms have been forming across fields, especially those in trade and investment, he stressed. 

He also showed his impression of great socio-economic development achievements of Bangladesh which is considered as a successful example of poverty eradication, equality promotion, and stable economic growth. 

Vietnam always attaches importance to boosting the traditional relationship and cooperation with Bangladesh, and is willing to share experience in the fields of its strength, he stated. 

President Quang briefed local businesses about Vietnam’s outstanding achievements over the three decades of reforms, especially GDP growth, trade, foreign investment attraction, improved investment climate and strongly upgraded transport infrastructure. He added Vietnam continues to be an attractive investment destination for foreign investors.

Vietnamese businesses are also developing in term of scale and access to the world’s new technologies, he said, noting that the country now has about 1,170 investment projects with total registered capital of over 20 billion USD in 69 countries and territories, covering various fields such as mining, telecommunications, agriculture-forestry, information technology, finance-banking, and services.

The leader emphasized that Vietnam encourages investment in Bangladesh, especially in the areas with good potential for bilateral cooperation like telecoms, IT, agriculture, food processing, garment, oil and gas, consumer goods production, infrastructure development, and services.

According to him, the economies of Vietnam and Bangladesh share many similarities and are able to support each other, which is an important condition for their businesses to increase investment ties.

President Quang said Vietnam highly values the potential and opportunities for investment partnership in Bangladesh, asking authorized agencies of the country to further support and create optimal conditions for Vietnamese firms to access Bangladesh’s market.

Bangladeshi enterprises are also welcomed to invest in Vietnam, he noted, voicing his belief that with the dynamism of the countries’ businesses, bilateral trade will surpass 1 billion USD this year and 2 billion USD in 2020.

“The State of Vietnam will provide the best possible conditions for the business circles in both countries to partner in investment and business in an effective and long-term manner for the sake of each country’s sustainable development,” President Quang said. 

A view of the Vietnam-Bangladesh Business Forum in Dhaka on March 6 (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnam-Bangladesh Business Forum was jointly hosted by the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI). It attracted the participation of 300 business representatives from the two sides. 

Established in 1973, FBCCI is representing 3.5 million Bangladeshi businesses. It plays an important role and has great influence on the issuance of economic and commercial policies of the Bangladeshi Government, especially those related to foreign investors. 

Prior to President Quang’s visit to Bangladesh, FBCCI sent a delegation to Vietnam and had working sessions with representatives from Vietnam’s Ministries of Planning and Investment, and Information and Communications, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and some major economic groups such the military-run telecommunication group Viettel, the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, and Vietnam Northern Food Corporation (Vinafood-1).

Before attending the Vietnam – Bangladesh business forum, President Tran Dai Quang hosted a reception for a delegation from the Bangladesh-Vietnam Council for Commerce and Industries (BVCCI).

He hailed the role of the BVCCI in promoting the bilateral economic ties, and stated that towards the goal of bringing two-way trade to 2 billion USD, Vietnam encourages the expansion of trade products between the two countries.

The President called on the BVCCI to enhance coordination with its Vietnamese partners to improve the framework for trade partnership and boost the trade of commodities of each country’s strength and demands. 

He also urged the council to work with Vietnam to help the two sides participate deeper in the global supply chain in the fields of mutual strength such as garment-textile, footwear and agriculture.

The same day, President Quang, his spouse, and the high-level Vietnamese delegation attended the opening ceremony of the Vietnam culture days in Bangladesh on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties (1973-2018).

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said despite the geographical distance, the two countries still feel the closeness and share a lot of cultural similarities, especially the wet rice agriculture. 

The Vietnamese culture days in Bangladesh will help strengthen solidarity and friendship between the two peoples as well as reinforce the two countries’ development cooperation, Minh said.

After cutting the ribbon to kick-off the event, President Quang and his spouse along with Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahmood Ali and Vietnamese and Bangladeshi senior officials visited the Vietnamese cultural space.

In the afternoon of March 6 (local time), the Vietnamese President left Dhaka, concluding successfully his three-day State visit to Bangladesh at the invitation of President Abdul Hamid.-VNA