Norway will continue investing in Bangladesh as there are lots of opportunities here, said Dilek Ayhan, state secretary at the Norwegian ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries.
“I would encourage our businessmen to invest in Bangladesh considering its interesting market. Its a developing market that is growing rapidly, which can make even a European country jealous,” Dilek Ayhan told the Dhaka Tribune recently in an interview.
Ayhan is the co-founder and former Managing Director of Alarga, a company established to strengthen competitiveness of Norway’s businesses by strengthening individual companies’ intellectual capacity.
“Garment manufacturing works have attracted me. Hopefully more investment will come to Bangladesh ... Bangladeshi people are very warm and friendly. We have a long history of bilateral relationship. This will take us forward to keep up with time,” said Ayhan.
Before taking over as the state secretary, Ayhan worked as the manager of JADE, a European network for young entrepreneurs, and has during the past 12 years been serving on the board of several organisations working with diversity management and inter-cultural communication.
Recently Nordic countries inaugurated a common building for its embassy office in Dhaka. Ayhan also met Bangladesh foreign minister at the inauguration in Gulshan of Dhaka.
Referring to discussions with Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmud Ali, she said: “We talked about Bangladesh’s growth rate [which is now 7%]. This high level of growth shows that this a country where development is going progressively.
“This country has an interesting market for any investor. Many Norwegian companies have been established here. Telenor is one of them which has a majority share in Grameenphone. Ties are getting stronger and new business opportunities are rising.”
Praising Bangladeshis, the Norwegian state secretary said that people are hard working and are very eager to do something new.
“Apart from telecommunications, we can work on energy, maritime resources, seafood, ICT and shipbuilding sectors as Norway is very strong in these areas. Bangladesh also has its strengths in ready-made garments. We can find our common interests. After returning home, I will tell businessmen about the market in Bangladesh and ask them to invest here,” said Ayhan.
She also said that it was very difficult to comment on Grameenphone’s commercial decision who has already sold its share of GPIT. Grameenphone has a close engagement with the Bangladeshi youth.
“Although we are the majority owner of Telenor, mother company of Grameenphone, we cannot comment on its commercial decision regarding the operation of mobile financial services. They take their decisions independently. I hope Grameenphone will hold a dialogue with the government about its regulations.”
Terming “Digital Bangladesh” a visionary strategy, the Norwegian trade minister said by June, everyone in this country would get access of 3G. Internet price in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the world. So, using this scope, the youth of this country would be able to contribute a lot in the ICT sectors.
“Most of our companies work globally. If our shipbuilding companies find any opportunities here, they would work. We can work in any sector where businesspeople run their companies smoothly. Businesspeople of both countries will meet and exchange their ideas. Any type of commercial ideas can open new business windows,” said Ayhan.