At the reception, M.Golshirazi, president of Esfahan Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA) extended his warm welcome to A. F. M. Gousal Azam Sarker, the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Iran.
He then delivered a brief explanation on the economic situation of Esfahan province and clarified that the existing trade and investment interactions between Iran and Bangladesh are not in line with the potentials of the two countries, followed by an emphasis on the necessity of strengthening the commercial and cultural relations between Iran and Bangladesh.
He said: “the religious and cultural similarity between Iran and Bangladesh is the main reason for the intimate relations between two countries for years.
President of ECCIMA explained that the two industrial fields of energy and tourism are the main concern of Iranian authorities”. He quoted: “Since Esfahan is the main inbound tourist destination, development of this sector is a priority to Esfahan Province which could create great opportunities for future cooperation between Iran and other countries.”
He also said that car manufacturing and spare parts production in Esfahan is outstanding which can be considered as a good point of cooperation, added to that, investment in the fields of garment and recycling industry are points to look at for joint cooperation.
M. Golshirazi further looked at Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as the main destination for trade in south Asia and stressed on the point that establishing trade relations with neighbor countries could improve Iran’s economic situation and focusing on friend countries such as Bangladesh can assure a brighter future.
President of ECCIMA mentioned that the US sanctions against Iran, was an advantage to Iran's industrial development, apart from the oil industry. The two significant proof of this fact is 2% decrease in unemployment rate and 6% increase in agriculture sector last year.
"Iran is a pioneer in the fields of Nanotechnology and Information Technology in the region".
Ambassador of Bangladesh referred to the long-standing relationship between Iran and Bangladesh and agreed with M. Golshirazi on the fact that the relations between two countries are not complying with the two regions' potentials, including trade and investment. He mentioned the recent visit of Foreign Minister of Iran to Bangladesh and expressed that the result of this visit was promising for future relations.
A.F.M Gousal Azam Sarker pointed to the 6% economic growth of Bangladesh in last 15 years and said: “In 2017, the economic growth rate reached up to 7% and the country would expect it to hit 8% this year. He said that more than one third of Bangladesh’s population (160 million) are enjoying high social welfare and have purchasing power equal to that of Europeans.
A.F.M Sarker described the trade values between Iran and Bangladesh as significant and expressed that the majority of this trade is in the fields of construction, infrastructure, construction of dams, ports and airports and industrial units. He continued: “Natural fibers for weaving carpets and fabrics are being produced in Bangladesh and in textile industry Bangladesh is ranked the second after china.”
Ambassador of Bangladesh stated that Iran is well-known for its Nanotechnology and Information Technology in the region and we are hoping to make opportunities for expanding cooperation between two countries in these fields.
Furthermore, A.F.M Sarker mentioned about tiger shrimp, garment industry, tourism industry, and agriculture as the potential fields for trade and investment between two countries and requested Iranian investors to consider green energy production for future cooperation with Bangladesh.
He proposed that Iran can have bilateral relations with member countries of D-8 group and car manufacturing, robotic and Nanotechnology can be the main fields of activities between Iran and D-8 countries.
It’s worth to mention that the second conference of D-8 for exploring trade opportunities and technology transformation between 8 Islamic Countries is going to be held in Dhaka-Bangladesh.
As an outcome of the meeting, President of ECCIMA and the Ambassador of Bangladesh agreed on exchanging business delegations in the fields of interests.