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At the Opening Ceremony of the US Trade Show 2010 (organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh)

Speech by Hon'ble Foreign Minister Her Excellency Dr. Dipu Moni, M.P., at the Opening Ceremony of the US Trade Show 2010 as the Chief Guest, being organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh
18 February 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel

Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Morning!
It gives me a pleasure to be present here today at the opening ceremony of the US Trade Show 2010 in Dhaka. I thank the organizer, i.e., the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh for inviting me to unwrap the occasion of the inauguration of the 19th US Trade Show in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh considers the US as a close friend, ally and a major development and trading partner. This is due to the values we share and the commitments we have on issues of our common concern including economic and trade related issues. My government stands ready to intensify Bangladesh-US cooperation in all areas, including trade and commerce, energy and all sectors of socio-economic development. The Government of Bangladesh has been consistently working for consolidating the relations between the two countries in all areas of economic cooperation.

In today's world, trade holds the key to successful development. The focus of my Government has shifted, as we believe in, from aid dependence to expansion of trade as the engine of growth and development. The US is one of the major trading partners of Bangladesh. About 26 percent of our export is destined for the USA. During 2008-2009, Bangladesh exported US $ 4052 million worth of products which is 12.85 percent (US $ 461.44 million) higher than the previous year. Bangladesh maintains a positive trade balance with the US. During 2008-2009, Bangladesh imported US $ 457.82 million worth of products from USA, thus resulting in a trade surplus of US$ 3594.18 million.

One of our trade priorities with the US is to have continuous GSP facilities for a duty free and quota-free market access of our products as an LDC to the US. We are appreciative of the efforts of the US Government for extending GSP facilities to Bangladesh Readymade Garments and shrimp for greater access to US markets till June 2010. On this occasion of the US Trade Show in Bangladesh, as the American Chamber of Commerce has been working to serve the interest of the Bangladesh-US economic cooperation, I take this opportunity to raise this issue with the US authorities and hope that AMCHEM would also work to serve the interest of Bangladesh's trade and business perspective through lobbying for the greater cause of the country' economic interest.

We strongly urge the US Government through the business representatives present here today to consider increasing Bangladesh's market access to the US as an LDC and extending duty and quota free access. The US remains the only major country in the developed world where Asian LDCs do not enjoy this facility. We also urge the continuation of the GSP facilities for Bangladesh. This is vital for our economy as well as critical to women empowerment. And we have been already aware of the fact that President Obama and Secretary of State Mrs. Hillary Clinton are great promoters and advocates of the issue of women empowerment. Our request to the US Government has also been made to consider adoption of the New Partnership for Development Act (NPDA) submitted by Senator Joe McDermott which we believe, is supportive of serving the cause of my country's business interest in the US.

With regard to the US FDI to Bangladesh, I would like to mention that Bangladesh is being increasingly considered as a viable destination for Foreign Direct Investment by many countries including the US. The U.S. is one of the largest foreign investors in Bangladesh. In the recent time (in 2007), some 13 projects under Joint Venture /Foreign investment with US were registered with Board of Investment (BOI) with a total investment of US$ 23.114 million. U.S. investments in Bangladesh are chiefly in the power and energy companies, manufacturers, a life insurance company, banking operations of a U.S. commercial bank, and various U.S. services and marketing firms.
We also urge the business community gathered here to play a vital role in greater flow of US investment to Bangladesh for the development of our economy.

I would like to conclude by reassuring that the Government of Bangladesh will continue to work hand in hand with the Government of the US for further development of our economic, business and trade relations which will continue to prevail as priority areas, among others, in the cooperation between our two countries.

We all wish that the links between our two business/trade communities will grow stronger, and may the friendship and cooperation between our two countries and peoples widen and deepen in the days and years ahead.

With this few remarks, I wish this programme a success.

Now I have the honour to declare "open" of this trade show.

Thank you all.