Dhaka-Hanoi trade has potential to cross $2bn : DCCI president

The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Vietnam can reach $2 billion if the existing trade gap is narrowed through mutual cooperation, said Rizwan Rahman, president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), on Tuesday.

According to the media reports, he revealed it at a meeting with the visiting 31-member business delegation from Vietnam.

He also said that both countries have grown remarkably in recent decades due to different initiatives taken to strengthen economic cooperation.

“The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Vietnam stood at $739.89 million in FY21. But Bangladesh’s exports amounted to only $61.29 million,” he noted.

To minimize the gap, mutual cooperation, regular meetings of business delegations, and joint research are needed, he also said.

He also urged Vietnamese investors to take the advantage of the existing competitive trade and investment ambiance in Bangladesh.

Rizwan Rahman called upon them for joint ventures and technology transfer in agro-processing, shipbuilding, electronics, textile, pharmaceuticals, leather, jute, ceramics, light engineering industries, economic zones, and hi-tech parks.

To ensure win-win trade relations, Bangladesh can be included as a member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and ASEAN, he added.

Pham Viet Chien, Vietnamese ambassador to Bangladesh, at the meeting said Bangladesh is a potential business partner of Vietnam. Even in the post-pandemic era, bilateral relations have deepened.

In the first nine months of this year, the both-way trade crossed $1.1 billion and is growing day by day, he noted.

He invited Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to invest in Vietnam and they are ready to share experiences and views with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

Do Quoc Hung, deputy director general of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and head of the visiting delegation, said a lack of linkages between both parties is responsible for lower trade.

Bangladesh and Vietnam maintain good inter-complementary trade relations where both countries do not have to compete with each other, he also said.

Vietnam has already implemented 15 free trade agreements with different countries, he noted.

He said, “The more we can arrange business-to-business (B2B) meetings, the more opportunities will be created for businesses.”