US companies would take advantage of the competitiveness of Bangladesh and invest in the country in much greater volume particularly in the areas of ICT, energy, and pharmaceuticals.
The first ever high level Economic Partnership Consultation between Bangladesh and the United States held recently on a virtual platform expressed such optimism, according to a statement issued from Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The meeting took place with a view to developing a vision for advancing the existing U.S.-Bangladesh economic partnership.
Adviser for Private Industry and Investment to Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Mr. Salman F. Rahman, MP, led and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Mr. Keith Krach, co-chaired the meeting. Mr. Md. Shahriar Alam, MP, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh Ambassador to USA, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister and senior officials from relevant ministries and departments of both countries also attended the meeting.
During the meeting, both the co-chairs and the participants shared their thoughts on developing a vision to advance the bilateral economic partnership between the two friendly countries in all potential areas. They emphasized the need for close cooperation between the Governments and industries to address the continually evolving challenges related health and economy during the current and post-COVID-19 global pandemic situation. Advisor Rahman underscored that Bangladesh would continue to pursue economic diplomacy pro-actively with neighboring, regional and global players and welcomed the US interest and involvement in the existing and new initiatives. Several important issues like investment, public health cooperation, sound digital policy, blue economy, agriculture capacity building, energy, transportation and infrastructure were discussed during this high level consultations focusing on how to further enhance the overall economic partnership between Bangladesh and the United States.
Adviser Rahman thankfully mentioned that US is Bangladesh’s single largest export destination country and also the largest investor in the country. Under Secretary Krach appreciated Bangladesh Government’s initiatives to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Both sides noted with great appreciation the excellent cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic between the two countries and highlighted the supply of world class PPE by Bangladesh to the United States in the shortest possible time.
An air transport agreement between the Government of the United States of Americas and the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was signed during the high level consultation with the hope to continue positive engagement between the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).
The virtual high level consultation took place in a friendly and cordial atmosphere. The co-chairs concluded the meeting by emphasizing the importance of regular engagement between the two Governments at the political and bureaucratic levels.
