Rahul Alam Siddique, Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, said on Thursday that bilateral trade between the two countries has been rapidly rising and is on track to reach $1 billion shortly, which would be a significant milestone.
He added the Bangladeshi High Commission in Islamabad and the Deputy High Commission in Karachi would commemorate the occasion.
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A promising future
The envoy said the present bilateral commerce volume has climbed to over $900 million and is continuing to develop at a quicker pace during a meeting at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
“Pakistan’s exports to Bangladesh have risen by 48 percent while exports from Bangladesh to Pakistan appreciated by 14 percent, which is a good sign,” he said, hoping that the rising trend continues in the days to come, which would be very encouraging for the business communities of both countries.
He emphasized Bangladesh’s progress, prosperity, and achievements over the last 50 years, saying that his newly born country faced numerous hurdles after its founding in 1971 when its foreign reserves were nil and its poverty rate was over 82 percent.
“During the last 50 years, Bangladesh achieved many goals under its Vision 2021 program and now the total exports of the country have crossed $50 billion. Bangladesh was number one country in jute production, second in readymade garments exports, third in fish exports, and fourth in rice production and tomato production in the world,” he said.
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He further stated that Bangladesh has achieved the status of a developing country from its previous level of a least developed country. Bangladesh has also achieved remarkable progress in socio-economic sectors and has been transformed into one of the vibrant economies of the world due to visionary leadership, resilient people and political stability.
BMG AQ Khalil, the General Secretary, praised the Bangladeshi government’s efforts to improve trade and business links with Pakistan.
He believed that Pakistan should learn from Bangladesh’s history and experience. “Bureaucratic stumbling blocks were one of Pakistan’s most critical problems. As a result, we must study Bangladesh’s bureaucracy and implement the same method,” he added.