Bangladesh holds webinar to bolster trade and investment activities with Oman

In line with its mission to foster the development of trade and commercial activity between Bangladesh and Oman, Bangladesh Embassy in Muscat organised a webinar as a part of the series of programmes undertaken to celebrate the Birth Centenary of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of the Independence of the country on Monday.

Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr AK Abdul Momen, spoke as the chief guest in the webinar along with the Undersecretary for Diplomatic Affairs of the Foreign Ministry of Oman Sheikh Khalifa Alharthy. Chairman of Oman Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OCCI) Engineer Redha Juma Al Saleh and President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI) Md Jashim Uddin were also present among other guests. Bangladesh Ambassador to Oman Mizanur Rahman conducted the proceedings of the webinar.

In his speech, Foreign Minister Dr Momen elaborated on the investment-friendly environment that allows regional and global supply chains to develop and profit from. He also mentioned that Bangladesh-Oman bilateral relation has reached a different height covering many areas of mutual cooperation beyond the traditional manpower sector.

He highlighted the latent potentials existing in the economic relations between the two countries, which are yet to be fully explored, and urged the two sides to work together to reap the full benefits of the brotherly relations between the two peoples. He also mentioned that Oman could benefit from importing world-class products, such as ready-made garments, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, leather and leather goods, frozen fish, jute and jute products and processed foods, from Bangladesh at a competitive price. 

Undersecretary for Diplomatic Affairs Sheikh Khalifa Alharthy appreciated the role the Bangladesh community is playing in the development of Oman and expressed Oman's interest to expand this relation to areas such as bilateral trade and investment, food security and technology.

Ambassador Mizanur Rahman who hosted the programme mentioned that the Bangladesh Embassy in Oman was playing its part as a catalyst to forge bridges between the two countries and shifting the paradigm from labour-intensive relations to a trade and investment-oriented partnership. He highlighted that the webinar would provide fresh thoughts and suggestions as a guideline for proceeding in the future.

In his speech, Md Jashim Uddin, the FBCCI President has elaborated the stimulus packages the government of Bangladesh was offering and emphasised undertaking a regular set of trade partnerships including B-2-B meetings, annual trade fairs and annual trade meet to build a heritage of cooperation for targeted time-bound goals for renewed sustainable engagement between Bangladesh and Oman.

Chairman of OCCI Engineer Redha Juma Al Saleh underlined the communication between the private sectors of the two countries and hoped that the webinar would facilitate the possibility of cooperation to raise the modest trade figure between the two countries and raising the number of joint investment projects.

Finally, a presentation titled "Bangladesh – A Land of Abundant Potential" was presented by Joint Secretary Hasan Arif, the representative of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA).