Bangladesh seeks German investment beyond RMG

Bangladesh urged German businesses to explore investment and partnership opportunities beyond readymade garments (RMG), particularly in technology, engineering, pharmaceuticals, electronics and food processing.
The call came at a business and investment seminar titled “Beyond Textiles: Business Opportunities in Bangladesh”, held at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce in Germany.
Around 40 businesspeople, investors, policymakers and representatives of business and development organisations attended the event, according to a press release.
Speakers said Bangladesh and Germany could deepen economic ties through two-way trade, technology transfer, joint ventures and investment.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Germany Muhammad Zulqar Nain said the country was moving beyond its traditional export base and developing capabilities in diversified manufacturing, technology and services.
He identified engineering products, leather goods, jute products, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food processing, electronics, light engineering and information technology as sectors with growing export potential.
Engineering product exports, for instance, have grown by about 21.8%, he said.
The ambassador also highlighted emerging capabilities in machinery and components, electric vehicles, mobile phone assembly, printed circuit board (PCB) and printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) production, advanced electronics and engineering. 
Chip design emerges as new frontier
Semiconductor and chip design were highlighted as potential areas for high-value cooperation between Bangladesh and Germany.Nain said Bangladeshi engineers were already providing design and engineering services to international semiconductor companies.
He cited ULKASEMI, which employs more than 600 design engineers in Bangladesh, as an example of the country’s growing presence in the sector.
Ch Md Golam Rabbi, commercial counsellor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Berlin, said the embassy had organised six similar events in Germany over the past one and a half years to promote Bangladesh’s trade and investment potential.
“There is ample scope for further cooperation and collaboration” to expand trade and investment, he said, pointing to Bangladesh’s strategic location, access to a large regional consumer market and available investment incentives.
German businesses call for easier procedures
German business representatives shared their market-entry experiences, investment prospects and practical challenges during a panel discussion.
Participants expressed interest in Bangladesh’s domestic market, manufacturing capacity, infrastructure, renewable energy and technology-based industries.
Speakers also called for simpler business and investment procedures and stronger efforts to improve Bangladesh’s image in the mainstream media of both countries.

The discussion brought together representatives from the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, OAV, Germany Trade & Invest, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Euler Hermes Aktiengesellschaft, PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH, Alton’s Germany GmbH, WGC-Holding GmbH, GerBan Fibres Ltd and Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH.