Bangladesh, Singapore Sign MOC to Boost Bilateral Trade

Bangladesh and Singapore today signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) in order to boost bilateral trade and investment.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and Singapore Minister for Transport & Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran signed the MOC on behalf of their respective countries at a function at the Ministry of Commerce at Bangladesh Secretariat today.

Speaking on the occasion, the Commerce Minister said that the MOC would play a strong role in enhancing bilateral trade and investment in the coming days.

He said detailed discussions would be held on how to increase cooperation between the two countries.

Mentioning that Singapore is an important trade partner of Bangladesh, Tipu said the relationship of Bangladesh could be further developed with Singapore in the areas of products, services and investment sectors.

Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman, Commerce Ministry Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh and Singapore High Commissioner to Bangladesh were present, among others, at the MOC signing ceremony.

Mentioning that an initiative has already been taken to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries to boost bilateral trade and investment, Tipu said that a Joint Working Group has been working to this end while negotiations in this regard would begin soon.

Replying to a question, the Commerce Minister said both Bangladesh and Singapore have celebrated 50 years of their diplomatic relations while both the countries want to make this relationship a memorable one.

He informed that Singapore wants to increase trade and investment in a number of sectors in Bangladesh including in tourism and halal food.

The Singaporean Minister said that there is a huge scope for increasing trade, investment and economic cooperation between the two countries and Singapore is also interested to increase this economic relationship.

Noting that the Cox’s Bazar Airport is being developed into an international one, Iswaran noted that this airport would be helpful to boost trade and tourism.

Answering to a question, the Singaporean Minister said that Bangladesh needs to build more skilled manpower while it is possible to export services staying at home if any country has skilled human resources.

PM’s Adviser Salman F Rahman said that the MOC would play a special role in boosting bilateral trade.

Mentioning that a huge number of Bangladeshi expatriates are now working in Singapore, Salman said that the relationship of cooperation between the two countries is very old and deep-rooted.