The Francophonie economic event has been inaugurated for the first time in Bangladesh at the capital's Hotel Le Meridien on Sunday.
The event, which is a part of Francophonie Week, was jointly organised by three Francophonie Chambers – CanCham Bangladesh, France Bangladesh and Switzerland Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Earlier, Francophonie Week was manifested only with cultural and linguistic disposition.
The CanCham Bangladesh president Masud Rahman in his welcome speech said: “For today's economic event, the role of the three diplomatic missions is outstanding. I greatly acknowledge the support of the three missions to make the Francophonie economic event happened as part of the Francophonie Week.”
Two presentations on “Trade between Bangladesh and Francophonie Countries: Opportunities and Way Forward” were presented by Switzerland ambassador Christian Fotsch and French embassy's economic department official.
This year the festivities of Francophonie in the country will add an economic dimension. However, the trade between Bangladesh and Francophonie countries is the manifestation of the economic dimension, speakers said at the program.
They also made hope that the cooperation that has started among the three Francophonie Chambers with the economic event will organise more events jointly in future too for the interest of Bangladesh and Francophonie countries.
The presentation from French embassy stated that the bilateral exchange between France and Bangladesh stood at 2.4 billion EUR in 2015 which is an increase of 30% compared to 2014.
In 2015, export from France to Bangladesh registered a significant growth of 91% while the import from Bangladesh increased by 25%, the report added.
Interestingly, the report also said Bangladesh remains the 4th commercial partner of France in South Asian region after India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh still remains little known to the French exporters whereas according to international institutes, the country of 165 million inhabitants has the potential to become an emerging middle income country in the next decade, the report also said.
On the other hand, Switzerland ambassador Christian in his presentation said: “The total bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Switzerland crossed $510 million in 2015 while crossing half a billion mark for the first time.
It registered an impressive growth of 10.6% compared to 2014, however, it has more than doubled since 2010 and expected to cross $1 billion mark in coming years, he added.
In 2015, Swiss exports to Bangladesh around CHF 158 million with 20% growth over 2014 while imports in the same period stood at around CHF 352 million at 7% growth, he also noted.
The program was also attended by Canadian High Commissioner Benoit Pierre Laramee and French ambassador Sophie Aubert while several members from CanCham Bangladesh, France Bangladesh and Switzerland Bangladesh were also present at the program.