Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in early October asked the business community in India to invest in Bangladesh, saying that her country offers a conducive environment and sustainable development. “We also want to see trade and investment together where Indian big investors can set up industries in Bangladesh to the southeast Asian countries taking advantage of the improved connectivity between us,” she said while addressing a business meeting jointly organised by business chambers ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI in New Delhi.

“The trade and investment between our two countries are increasing and volume of bilateral trade has steadily grown during the past years. The balance of trade, however, is still largely in India’s favour. The volume of trade between two countries is nearly $10 billion. In 2018, Bangladesh was India’s eighth largest export destination with $8.8 billion export and our export to India also crossed $1 billion mark for the first time last year. So, the progress is visible, but there is lot of scope for further deepening our relations in the area of trade and investment,” PM Hasina said. Noting Bangladesh has achieved remarkable economic progress in the last decade, often recognized as “development model”, she said her country is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It is the second-largest garment exporter, third-largest inland fish producer, fourth-largest freshwater fish producer, fourth-largest rice producer and eighth-largest remittance earning country, she said, adding: “If all these positive trends continue, we expect eventually to implement our Vision to make Bangladesh a developed country by 2041.”