The Netherlands has expressed its interest in Paira port project in line with the government initiative to build a deep seaport at Paira in Patuakhali.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands, Sheikh Mohammad Belal, recently told the Dhaka Tribune that the issue had been discussed when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited the Hague last year.
“The prime minister [Hasina] noted the Dutch interest in deep seaport projects and assured the Dutch side of her government’s due consideration for the port project propositions,” he said.
The ambassador said the Dutch companies have considerable interests in different sectors of Bangladesh including water resources management, i.e. waste water treatment, dredging, etc, port development, agriculture, textiles and leather, ICT, mobile telecommunication and energy.
Dutch companies like Unilever, Philips, Organon, Shell, Vimpelcom, and other firms were active in Bangladesh from very early years of its independence.
“From Dutch perspective, they are well aware of our potential as a gateway to the coming Asian century and substantial size of our own domestic market,” he said.
The cumulative Dutch private investment to Bangladesh stands at around US$ 684 million as of June 2015, he added.
About export to the Netherlands, he said the export is steadily increasing and Bangladesh exported goods worth $840.34 million to the Netherlands and imported goods worth $ 147.10 million in the last fiscal.
Major export items from Bangladesh include woven garments, knitwear, bi-cycle, jute manufacture, jute yarn and twine, home textile, leather products, shrimps while major import items are vegetable products, live animals, animal or vegetable fats and oil, prepared food stuff and mineral products.
The embassy is working to organise business seminars focusing on trade potentials between the two countries.
The Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also going to organise a Single Country Trade Fair in Amsterdam in mid-April this year, added Belal.