Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Wednesday urged the Asian Trade Promotion Forum (ATPF) to jointly take up projects and implements them for the benefits of the member countries.
The ATPF comprises 23 countries in Asia whose goal is to enhance trade through the exchange of information, implementation of projects, and the strengthening of trade networks within member countries.
Tipu Munshi was speaking as the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the two-day 35th CEO meeting of ATPF at a hotel in Dhaka.
He said the Asia Pacific region is home to around 400 crore people with potential markets to promote businesses among the member countries.
The commerce minister said that this forum can play an important role in the region’s economic development.
Bangladesh’s economy, he said, is progressing fast and this is visible now in every sector.
Bangladesh has sufficient skilled manpower and a big market of about 17 crore people, he said adding it has also the advantage of having India and China as neighbours.
There is an opportunity to produce and export products in Bangladesh at a low cost. Bangladesh’s government is providing sufficient facilities in terms of investment here, which is very attractive for investors.
Vice Chairman of Export Development Bureau AHM Ahsan chaired the opening ceremony.
Among others, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Chairman of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Sasaki Nobuhiko, and President of FBCCI Jasim Uddin, spoke at the event.
The member countries of the forum are – Australia, China, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Macau- China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Chinese Taipei, and Vietnam.
The JETRO serves as the forum’s secretariat. The 34th meeting of this forum was held on the Zoom platform on October 26-27, 2021.
Joint projects and implementation, trade expansion by strengthening networks, identifying problems in regional trade through direct communication, and solving them are on the agenda of the meeting.
Source: United News of Bangladesh