Call For Malaysia To Invest In Bangladesh’s Furniture Industry

Dhaka, Bangladesh | July 20, 2009 by D-8 Secretariat

The furniture fair is organised by Malaysia's Furniture Industry Technology Centre (Fitec) to display the latest Malaysian furniture and furniture technology from 20 of its top manufacturers

Malaysia has vast scope to invest in Bangladesh’s furniture industry and both countries will benefit from such investments, Bangladesh Commerce Ministry’s Secretary Firoz Ahmed said on Tuesday.

“Malaysian entrepreneurs can set up furniture companies in Bangladesh through joint ventures or direct investments,” he said at the opening of Malaysia Fitec Furniture Showcase 2009 in Dhaka.

He said that foreign investors should be able to earn profit with lower labour cost and the government providing special incentives.

The four-day furniture fair is organised by Malaysia’s Furniture Industry Technology Centre (Fitec) to display the latest Malaysian furniture and furniture technology from 20 of its top manufacturers.

The event is expected to attract around 1,000 furniture industry players from the two countries.

“Bangladesh can also be a good market for Malaysian furniture since the purchasing capacity of our people is growing,” Ahmed said.

“The furniture industry is also flourishing in Bangladesh and opportunities exist to develop this sector where Malaysians can help with their expertise,” he said.

On the trade between Malaysia and Bangladesh, Ahmed said: “During the last five years the volume of bilateral trade has increased by 82 percent to US$500 million, but it is largely in Malaysia’s favour.”

He said the trade gap could be reduced through cooperation between the traders and entrepreneurs of both countries to increase the volume of bilateral trade.

D-8 Organization Secretary General, Dipo Alam, welcomes this call of bilateral trade relations between Bangladesh-Malaysia, as a bolstering move toward the deepening of intra-trade relation within D-8 Organization. Alam said that this move is in line with the PTA D-8 held in KL Summit recently, whose RoO was approved by memberstates. As for the wider industrial cooperation among member countries, D-8 hopes that this issue can be further studied and implemented, as in accordance with the result of the 4th WG on Industry in Bali, Indonesia, in June 27-28 August 2008. “We also hope that this type of mutual trading encouragement, can increase the interest of our other memberstates as well,” said Dipo Alam.

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