Bangladeshi business leaders ask Pakistan to ease visa procedures
Bangladesh Journal
ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: A Bangladesh business delegation, now visiting Pakistan, has urged Islamabad to ease visa rules for business people from Dhaka.
A 35-member business delegation of Bangladesh, led by President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Mir Nasir Hossain, made the request to Pakistani Minister for Textile Industry Mushtaq Ali Cheema during talks Monday.
Both sides during the meeting discussed a wide range of issues to promote bilateral trade between the two nations.
Secretary, Ministry of Textile Industry, Syed Masood Alam Rizvi and Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Pakistan, Abdul Hannan, were also present on the occasion.
Welcoming the delegation, the Minister said Bangladesh was a brotherly Islamic country and there was an enormous potential to enhance bilateral trade between the two countries, particularly in textile and pharmaceutical sectors.
He appreciated Bangladesh’s performance in textile and pharmaceutical sectors and said Pakistan could cooperate with Bangladesh in the light engineering and textile sectors.
“Pakistan is a manufacturer of quality power looms and their spare parts, and it could supply them to Dhaka at very competitive rates,” Cheema added.
The Minister said: “We could assist Bangladesh in finished fabric goods as it has invested 5 billion dollars in this sector.”
He urged the business leaders to promote regional trade among the SAARC countries by foregoing the political issues and offered assistance to the delegation for the promotion of bilateral trade.
Later, leader of the business delegation, Mir Nasir Hossain said Bangladesh had performed well in garment sector and last year it exported ready made garments worth US$ 6.4 billion, which was a 75 per cent of total exports from Bangladesh.
He said: “Bangladesh has established 7 export processing zones which are running very successfully with Korean, Chinese and Japanese investment.”
He said there was enormous potential to enhance bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Pakistan.
He invited the Federal Minister for Textile Industry to visit Bangladesh along with a business delegation to foster relation in textile sector.
Chairman, Bangladesh Jute Mills Association, Kamran Tanvir-ur-Rahman said Bangladesh’s imports from Pakistan started from $ 45.20 US million and rose to $ 138.92 million in 2004-05.
