DHAKA: Bangladeshi businesses will seek more investment from Vietnam during the visit of the Southeast Asian country’s President Tran Dai Quang, who arrived in Dhaka yesterday.
The bilateral trade volume is in favour of Vietnam, from where Bangladesh has been importing woven fabrics in bulk quantity since 2011 after the relaxation of the Rules of Origin by the EU for the least developed countries.
The European Union started giving the zero-duty benefit to the exporters of apparels, including the ones made of imported fabrics.
“We will ask for Vietnamese investment here so that the trade balance can be narrowed down at least to some extent,” said Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of the FBCCI.
Still, Bangladesh will have to meet 65 percent of its demand for woven fabrics from imports because of a weak local backward linkage industry.
Thanks to spiralling Chinese investment, Vietnam has turned into a major hub for textile fabrics for Bangladesh, which is also dependent on Vietnamese rice. In 2016-17, Bangladesh imported goods worth $417 million and exported goods worth $66.44 million although the figures were almost the same in 2009-10, according to data from the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).
The growth of Bangladesh’s export to Vietnam has always been very slow from $37.2 million in 2009-10 to $66.44 million in 2016-17 compared to the imports.
In 2010-11, the import payment jumped to $459.26 million when Bangladesh started importing woven fabrics in bulk quantity from Vietnam to avail the EU’s trade privilege.
“Vietnam is already a big investor in 12 countries. So, we can also bring foreign direct investment from Vietnam for sectors like ICT, telecom and agriculture,” Mohiuddin told The Daily Star.
He also said a joint business council will be formed and an agreement between the FBCCI and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be signed to boost bilateral trade.
