The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

Bangladesh will take part for the first time in the three-day Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Business Forum meeting starting from June 16 next in Ugandan capital, Kampala.

The Forum is the 12th private sector meeting for the promotion of trade and joint venture investment among Islamic countries.

Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uganda and Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI) are jointly organising the meeting on the theme 'Discover the Resources and High Potentials of the African Market'.

Uganda President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will inaugurate the meeting.

The objectives of the meeting are to explore investment and trade opportunities amongst OIC member states, particularly Uganda, for mutual business benefit and to strengthen effective public private partnership mechanisms for capacity building through enhanced networking, entrepreneurial mentorship and information exchange among trade policy-makers, promotion agencies, relevant multilateral organisations, research and academic institutions as well as private sector partners.

'Africa is an unexplored market for Bangladesh. So, it would be a great opportunity for the business leaders to make an assessment of business climate in central African countries by joining the business forum," said Moniruzzaman, secretary of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

He said: 'Pharmaceuticals and Jute products have bright prospect in African countries. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs can fully tap the African market.'

Moniruzzaman said, trading system in central African countries is different than any other countries in the world as they have no cash in their hand.

Under the trading system, a businessman from abroad can obtain trading licence and set up industries either on joint venture basis or independently and then can pursue the business as importer in that countries, he said adding the traders are allowed to repatriate their profit.

Stocking of such kind of trading method of the central African countries, Indian traders are making substantial profit as many Indian nationals are permanent residents there, said secretary of the FBCCI.

Bangladeshi businessmen can also avail such opportunity and earn foreign currency for the country, he said.

Moniruzzaman said, 'We are yet to fix the date of departure as the invitation letters have been sent to various chambers and businessmen to seek their interest in attending the meeting. The response we are receiving is tremendous. The number of delegation will be around 10-12.'

The OIC Business Forum will be held concurrently with the 35th Foreign Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Kampala, scheduled on June 18-20.

Nearly 1000 participants are expected to attend the Forum from all over the world.

The forum will also facilitate one-to-one business making meetings with parties having same interest and a platform to meet potential investors and project financiers.

The Business Forum will create a platform for sharing experiences and identification of investment opportunities in Africa with the 57 members of OIC that includes countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kuwait, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Brunei, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt and Bahrain.