Interim government鈥檚 chief adviser Muhammad Yunus on Sunday called upon Chinese businesses to invest in Bangladesh and make the country a production hub.
鈥業 urge Chinese investors to make Bangladesh their home, a production hub,鈥櫬� said Yunus while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural session of the day-long China-Bangladesh conference on investment and trade, held at the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority auditorium in the capital Dhaka.
Inviting the Chinese investors in transforming Bangladesh at 鈥榯his strategic moment鈥�, he said, 鈥榃e can build a future that can touch the sky. That鈥檚 the potential we have together,鈥� said Yunus, also a Nobel laureate.
The chief adviser called upon the Chinese companies to take this opportunity of investment and make a history for this nation together.
He said that the student-led mass uprising that ousted the authoritarian regime in August, 2024, ushered in this opportunity of investments in the country.
鈥楽cores of economic zones were developed in the past 16 years, but those remained empty. Cattle are raised in some places there,鈥� the chief adviser said, giving a grim picture of the country under the previous regime.
Speaking as special guest, Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao said that they found huge potential for Bangladeshi jute products with regard to which they could help with new designs to add value to the natural fibre.
He mentioned that the bilateral trade between the two countries reached $24 billion this year.聽聽聽
Welcoming the Chinese businesses, Yunus said that their investments could be a game-changer for Bangladesh economy by creating job opportunities for youths that constitute half of its 180 million population.
He said that it was a beginning of a new journey which would continue and grow as representatives from more than 100 Chinese companies flew to Bangladesh to join the conference.
Yunus underscored the need for reviving the lost glory of jute, saying they could together make a wonderful start of jute, once used mainly for making sacks.
Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen, among others, also spoke at the event moderated by BIDA executive chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun.
The Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority jointly organised the event joined by about 250 representatives from Chinese businesses.
Yunus said that China that had emerged as a master of manufacturing would help Bangladesh go through a similar transformation.
Recalling his recent visit to China, he said that he felt honoured that Chinese president Xi Jinping had followed up his words as a big number of Chinese investors had joined the conference at a time after his bilateral meeting in Beijing in March.聽
Chinese minister Wang said that China was willing to help Bangladesh improve its export capacity and promote integrated development of trade and investment.
The Bangladesh Bank data showed that Bangladesh imported goods worth $16.64 billion from China while, as per the Export Promotion Bureau, it exported goods worth $715.4 million to China in 2023-24, marking a huge trade gap between the two Asian nations in favour of China.
