DHAKA: Speakers at the first ever Bangladesh-Spain multilateral partnership meeting on Tuesday opined that a new era of Spanish investment has just begun.
On its first day of the two-day multilateral partnership meeting in Dhaka the speakers also raised the bar of expectations, a combination of solidarity and cooperation.
From the very beginning the aim of this event was to promote collaboration between Bangladesh and Spanish companies in order to foster their participation in different projects promoted and financed both by international funds and Bangladesh government.
The inaugural ceremony ensured the reach of that goal with enthusiastic participation of representatives of top notch companies from Bangladesh and Spain.
Moreover, government and non-government dignitaries from different ministries and NGOs also participated in the ceremony. All of the participants of the ceremony expected the multilateral partnership to reenergize the ongoing excellent bilateral relations between the two countries.
Bangladesh state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid said, “I think that this Business Meeting reflects the mutual interest of the companies in our respective countries and their desire to undertake joint ventures”.
He added, “This explains the dynamic nature of our economic relations. In 2013, we have posted record figures in terms of bilateral trade between Spain and Bangladesh, at 1.3 billion euros of trade”.
Head of the visiting delegation Isaac Martin Barbero, Director General, ICEX Spain Trade and Investment said, “Bangladesh has great ambitions that offer great opportunities in the energy, transportation and environmental sectors for the best international companies”.
“In those same areas, Spanish firms offer state of the art technologies, world class experience and a localization capacity which is second to none. Therefore, it is only natural that this Multilateral Partnership should contribute decisively to take bilateral cooperation to the next level.”
Among the other dignitaries Spain ambassador to Bangladesh Eduardo de Laiglesia y del Rosal, Asian Development Bank country director Kazuhiko Higuchi, World Bank Group Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice program manager M MasrurReaz, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), president Abdul Matlub Ahmad and Board of Investment executive chairman Dr Sayed AbdusSamad, among others, were present at the event.
The multilateral partnership meeting will continue till October 7 and Bangladeshi companies will be meeting Spanish companies to partner up for the future trade initiatives.
BDST: 1524 HRS, OCT 06, 2015
RR
** Bangladesh-Spain partnership meeting Tuesday
