Bangladesh Trade and Investment Summit 2021.

DAY 2, 

The President of the DCCI kicked off the second day of the week-long Trade and Investment Summit 2021, which was attended by the Honourable Minister of Commerce, notable CEOs of GP, Uniliver and Standard Chartered, as well as domestic giants such as Eon Group and other industry professionals. 

The coverage for the day focused on the European regulatory regime and its economic ties with Bangladesh. As the EU along with the UK are Bangladesh's largest export destinations, priority was placed on preparation for the new European GSP+ draft which may impose stricter technical barriers (including labour rights, climate-friendliness, etc) on Bangladeshi exports. On the other hand, Bangladesh will directly benefit from the removal of import-share criterion from the GSP+ eligibility proposed by the union.

As Bangladesh graduates from an LDC in 2026, it will cease to enjoy tariff free entry (on the everything but arms deal) into EU markets starting from 2029. However, new challenges can only mean new opportunities for Bangladesh as expressed by the panel of speakers at the event. As continual efforts are made by stakeholders to diversify the countries' export basket, Bangladesh is eyeing new avenues in industries such as agro-processing, leather goods, IT and pharmaceuticals. 

The need for building modernized sustainable business eco-systems with the technical assistance of the countries' local and global partners was clearly emphasized. Experts believe that clear and defined export-oriented economic goals, as well as the right R&D-backed governmental assistance, will open up blue opportunities for the country in Europe and elsewhere.

DAY 3,

Focus of the third day of the summit turned towards Bangladesh's impending graduation from a least developed country status along with is transformation and preparedness. Bangladesh presently ranks #1 among all LDC exporters, with exports exceeding $40 billion in the previous fiscal year. Graduation from LDC status will result in Bangladesh losing its preferential treatment from markets such as Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific. 

Experts suggest that graduation is just the first milestone on Bangladesh's goal of becoming a high middle-income country by 2030 and a flourishing one by 2041. Bangladesh has caught serious attention on the world stage with its remarkable achievement of UN's sustainable development goals. Integrating into regional value chains such as RCEP and ASEAN seems key to sustaining this growth. FDI has steadily increased over the past decade as countries like China, Japan and South Korea have gained confidence in the Bangladeshi market. 

Furthermore, the UN's suggestion remains that technology adoption no longer remains an option for the country, rather it has become great necessity to harness its potential. WTO suggests that systemic and technical issues must be addressed by related policy makers. Industry leaders in the private sector laid emphasis on reducing AIT and VAT as it can add on to total cost and barriers to investing. Economic zones along with tech-parks being developed in the country should push policies for increasing innovation capacity, job creation and transfer of technological know-how. 

The government has taken up this issue with highest priority and understands the importance of a sustainable export-led growth model to prepare for graduation in 2026. Bangladesh has history of showing economic resilience as demonstrated during the 2008 financial crisis and more recently during the Covid-19 pandemic. There is no doubt that many challenges lie ahead of the young economy but experts believe the right approach to technology adaptation, ease of doing business, tariff rationalisation, skill development, investment in research and innovation, policy reforms in non-RMG sectors, and competitive tax structure are important issues to facilitate export diversification.

DAY, 4

The summit continued onto its fourth day, with Bangladesh’s economic ties with the Asia-Pacific being under the spotlight. To scale up cooperation within the region and among regional players to face post LDC challenges was the call from the private sector. According to business leaders and economists, Bangladesh has to focus on strengthening trade links with the Asia-Pacific regional economic blocs, which have become the epicentre of global trade and commerce, in order to boost the country's international trade and address post-LDC difficulties.

To fully realize the associated economic potentials, they proposed that Bangladesh focus more on policy reforms that remove obstacles to regional connectivity. The country must address all impediments in connecting with other economic regions to successfully join the global supply chain and manufacturing network. Bangladesh must also address shortcomings in lead time and standardise foreign exchange policies said Yuji Ando, the country representative for JETRO. Transparency in custom operations should also be improved for Bangladesh to become more integrated within the global supply chain network. Rules and regulations must be reviewed while letters of credit (LC) should be replaced by telegraphic transfers experts added.

"Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the Asia Pacific area hovered at $36 billion in FY20, of which Bangladesh's export was just $5 billion," said DCCI President who moderated the webinar. The economy of the Asia-Pacific region will lead the global economy in the near future and Bangladesh must play its part. The need to link countries' economy with the regional blocs and strengthen trade relations, taking them to a new level is imperative for Bangladeshi policy makers. A business friendly approach, simplification of rules, improvement of logistics services including at airports, competitive tax regime and further infrastructure development to harness the related economic potentials will maintain confidence in traders and foreign investors in the long term.