BGMEA president calls for collaborative supply chain in Indian Ocean region
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan has underscored the importance of building a collaborative supply chain among countries surrounding the Indian Ocean and said a strengthened regional value chain would help to derive mutual benefits.
Speaking at the 6th Indian Ocean Conference in Dhaka on Friday, he emphasised that a strengthened regional value chain is crucial in the era of globalisation and would allow countries to complement each other's capabilities and strengths.
He called for knowledge and technology transfer to build capability, enhance competitiveness, and promote sustainable and inclusive growth and development within the region.
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He said, "The countries of our region also have their specific skill sets and we can help each other from that point of view. For example, if I talk about India, which is one of the largest trading partners of Bangladesh, we have ample collaboration areas to explore.
"India specialises in the upstream segment, supplying intermediate inputs such as silk, cotton, yarn, and fabrics to Bangladesh. On the other hand, Bangladesh specialises in the downstream final apparel segment. So, collaboration may yield mutual trade benefits."
The session titled "Roadmap for an economically sustainable future in the Indo-Pacific" was attended by several speakers, including Aly Houssam El-Din El-Hefny, secretary general of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs; Lujaina Mohsin Haider, chairperson for Infrastructure, Technology, Industrial and Consumer Solutions (ITICS), Oman; and Prasad Kariyawasam, former foreign secretary of Sri Lanka, and was chaired by Doval, a member of the Governing Council at India Foundation.
The conference, jointly organised by the Bangladesh foreign ministry and the India Foundation, is being held on 12-13 May to discuss how the countries of the Indian Ocean region can promote economic development.
