The meeting with with Foreign Minister
DBCCI President Mr. Md. Anwar Shawkat Afser and the Board of Directors of Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce & Industry met with Honorable Foreign Minister H.E. Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen, M.P. on Wednesday, the 23rd June 2021 at the Conference Room of Foreign Service Academy, Dhaka.
Mr. Afser proposed some vital issues relevant to the Netherlands.
1. Specially to establish a training institute in Bangladesh on dredger machine operation and assembling. To succeed the delta plan and the country's river dredging plan it is an essential part. Skilled workers will be increased and Bangladesh may set up a dredger and spare parts manufacturing and assembling in Bangladesh with the collaboration with interested Dutch Dredging companies. He also suggested cutting tax on dredger imports to reduce the national dredging expenses which will be more than the tax raising.
2. DBCCI President emphasized on necessary measures to get the benefit from the Blue Economy. He suggested the following measures,
-Seismic survey (for searching sea resources in the extended sea area of Bangladesh).
-Investment & development of sea resources like offshore base oil, gas, mineral, etc.
-Offshore / sea based wind power plant.
-Fishing resources at the deep sea & processing plants/export to Europe & abroad.
-Small Iceland can be used as an exclusive Shipbuilding industry zone (like EPZ / Shipbuilding Industrial Park).
3. DBCCI may issue a certificate of origin for the exporter. Which recommends the organization’s reliability. Buyers may be assured with appropriate justification and product shipment authenticity.
4. An Industrial Park or Netherlands-Bangladesh EPZ or Europe-Bangladesh EPZ in Bangladesh may be established for the EU market.
5. Agriculture:
-Seed development and Export to abroad.
-All kinds of dairy products.
-Modern cultivation and high tech cold storage.
-Chocolate factory.
6. Warehouse setup with a bonded facility in Rotterdam Port to distribute Bangladeshi products to the whole Europe. Especially RMG, leather, Jute goods, light engineering, frozen fish, dry foods, vegetables, seed and agro products, handicrafts, etc. Vice versa Bangladesh-Netherlands jointly can set up a warehouse in Bangladeshi port for Dutch products with bonds.
7. Drinking mineral water manufacturing from sea/river/lake water and rain water for locality as well as for export. Some projects are existing and seeking higher technology and investment.
8. Display centre in our Bangladesh Embassy in The Hague for Bangladeshi products and services with the joint collaboration of Bangladesh Embassy and DBCCI.
9. DBCCI may keep a role as focal point to serve Dutch Investors, Exporters, Importers, Franchisees for appropriate counter parts from Bangladesh. Also can serve as a preliminary B2B center.
The Honorable Minister appreciated the proposal from the President of DBCCI on the scope of work between the Netherlands and Bangladesh. He expressed the dream of the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that Bangladesh already achieved SDG by 2020 and will be a developed country in 2041. As a brotherly country, the Netherlands may contribute significantly to achieve our goal. Presently Netherlands is an important investor in Bangladesh. Including Delta Plan 2100 they have a lot of engagement in our country.
The following personnel from the ministry made the event fruitful. Mr. Shabbir Ahmed Chowdhury, Secretary, Mr. Faiyaz Murshid Kazi, Director General, Md. Nazmul Huda, Director General, Mr. Md. Emdadul Islam Chowdhury, Director FMO, and other officers.
From the DBCCI Board, Mr. Md. Shahjahan Shaju, Vice President, Mr. Md. Shakawat Hossain Mamun, Secretary General, Mr. Ataus Sopan Malik, Joint Secretary General, Mr. Noafel Bin Reza, Director Finance, and Director, Mr. Md. Nazmul Haque, M. Rabiul Hossain, Mr. Md. Shahid Alam and Mr. Md. Sayem Faroky were present in the meeting.
