HSBC Bangladesh,in partnership with the US-Bangladesh Business Council (USBBC) has arranged an event titled ‘US-Bangladesh Business Forum: Building on 50 years’ of friendship’.
The event was organised to celebrate the relationship between USA and Bangladesh and noted the important ways in which the two countries can unlock the potential of its bilateral trade, highlight ways to support incumbent and new investors, and target an ambitious growth agenda that showcases new areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The forum and dinner reception was joined by senior Bangladesh and U.S. government officials, US and Bangladesh business community leaders, executive business delegates from the US Chamber of Commerce’s US-Bangladesh Business Council visiting from the United States, and leading startup founders, dynamically engaged to strengthen the US-Bangladesh economic corridor.
Peter Haas, US Ambassor to Bangladesh, Md Mahbub Ur Rahman, CEO HSBC Bangladesh and Jay R. Pryor, Vice President, Business Development for Chevron delivered their speech on the occasion.
In his speech, Peter Haas, US Ambassor to Bangladesh said, “United States is willing to go as fast as Bangladesh is to deepen our partnership. And I also believe we can go fastest together in building our trade and investment relationship. And the U.S.-Bangladesh Business Delegation here in Dhaka right now demonstrates just how ready the U.S. private sector is to invest in Bangladesh.”
Md Mahbub Ur Rahman, CEO HSBC Bangladesh highlighted the historic importance of US-Bangladesh business ties and HSBC capability to support the special relationship to reach new levels. He added,“Bangladesh has achieved steady growth over the past decade and is set to graduate into a developing country by 2026. With surging domestic demand, growing service and industry sectors and steady investment in digitization, the country will continue to attract foreign investments. With our strong international connectivity, HSBC is well poised to foster the growing trade and investment between the United States and Bangladesh”
On a panel discussion titled ‘U.S. & Bangladesh @ 50: Driving an Ambitious Economic Agenda’was held as part of the event to showcase how large corporates are instrumental in driving the business between USA and Bangladesh. The participants were Kevin Green, Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC Bangladesh, Ravi Aurora, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy and Indo-Pacific Policy Operations, Mastercard & Board Member, Elena Butarova, Senior Vice President, MetLife, Simon Milner, Vice President, Public Policy, Asia Pacific, Meta and Rita Lohani, Operations Director and Hub Lead, Bangladesh, Walmart.
In another panel discussion, Md. Shahriar Alam, State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Bangladesh and Mr. Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Commerce Secretary, Government of Bangladesh expressed their views.Dr. Ahmad Kaikaus, Principal Secretary to the Hon. Prime Ministeralso delivered a thank you noteon the occasion.
USA is the largest investor in Bangladesh in terms of FDI stock. Majority of these investments have come into Gas & Petroleum sector and the rest into power, banking and textile sectors. There is growing interest among the US companies to venture into Bangladesh to take advantage of its vibrant domestic demand.The interest is wide-ranging encompassing traditional sectors like consumer staples, edible oil as well as tech sectors like digital commerce/distribution etc.
