Highlighting Bangladesh’s current economic and social performance, speakers at a symposium in Hong Kong encouraged potential business individuals to explore business opportunities in both traditional and emerging sectors of Bangladesh.
Around sixty participants from the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), representatives from various chambers of commerce/professional bodies, various companies, SMEs, start-ups participated in a very interactive symposium on Monday (27 November ) arranged by the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Hong Kong.
The seminar titled ‘Expanding Trade and Investment Opportunities between Bangladesh and Hong Kong’ at the Chinese Manufacturers Association of Hong Kong (CMA) was divided into two sessions.
In the first session on “Promoting Business Opportunities between Bangladesh and Hong Kong”, Consul General Ms. Israt Ara delivered the welcome address.
In his speech, he highlighted the trade and economic cooperation between Bangladesh and Hong Kong as well as the current economic and social performance of Bangladesh.
Referring to the various incentive offers by the Government of Bangladesh for foreign investors, he encouraged potential business persons from Hong Kong to explore business opportunities in both traditional and emerging sectors of Bangladesh.
He assured them of all possible cooperation and support from the Consulate in promoting meaningful business relations between Bangladesh and Hong Kong.
The two guest speakers Dr. Patrick Lau, Deputy Executive Director, HKTDC and Dr. Wingko Low, JP, Vice President, CMA, in their remarks emphasized on the exchange of high-level visits between Bangladesh and Hong Kong.
Dr. Vingco said that a delegation of CMA would be visiting Bangladesh soon. In this session a promotional video on Bangladesh was played which attracted the attention of the audience. Later a presentation on ‘Business and Investment Opportunities in Bangladesh’ was made by Deputy Consul, MD Marzuk Islam.
In the second session, Felix YC Chang, President & CEO of Evergreen Products Group Ltd., Ms. Pauline Ngan, Deputy Chairman & MD, Mainland Headwear Holdings Ltd., and Kelvin Ngan, MD, South China Bleaching & Dyeing Factory Ltd. presented their shared experiences. Doing business in Bangladesh.
These three renowned and experienced investors highly appreciated Bangladesh’s business friendly environment and encouraged other potential investors, highlighting the competitive labor and production costs and other incentives prevalent in Bangladesh compared to Vietnam and Cambodia.
However, he expressed his concern regarding the delay in obtaining the bond license and the problem of HTS code verification and timely keeping of his containers at the port and sought support from the government to resolve these problems.
He also proposed a special economic zone for Hong Kong investors to enjoy the same status as investors from other countries.
In general, all the participants deeply appreciated the socio-economic progress of Bangladesh and thanked the consulate for arranging this ‘timely initiative’ as Hong Kong has recently reopened.
It may be noted that this was the first physical event to promote business cooperation by the consulate after more than two years, due to COVID-19 related social restrictions in Hong Kong.
In the end, the speakers were given mementos and the guests were entertained with traditional Bangladeshi food. Traditional handicrafts and other items including Nakshi Kantha were displayed during the seminar.
