Course summary: trade and business in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is advantageously situated near to India, the People's Republic of China and
Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets.
As the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) comes into force,
foreign investors in Bangladesh will benefit from duty-free access to Indian market and other member countries
of SAFTA
(Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and
Sri Lanka).
Total export incomes of Bangladesh (including exports of Export Processing
Zones) for 2009-10 and 2008-2009 amounted to Tk. 102.148 crore (10 million)
and Tk.97.498 crore or USD 14.763 million and USD 14.170 million respectively.
- Main exports of Bangladesh: Ready made garments, frozen foods (shrimps), leather, leather products, jute, jute products, tea, ceramic, textile fabrics, home
textile, chemical product, light engineering products including bi-cycle.
- Major trade partners of Bangladesh: United States, European Union,
People's Republic of China, India,
Pakistan, Japan, South Korea,
Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Saudi
Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
- Total imports of Bangladesh: USD 24 billion (2009-10)
- Total Foreign direct investment (FDI): USD 0.70 billion
- The textiles and clothing industry is the biggest export segment of
Bangladesh. Their factories design and
produce for the leading brands and
retailers - distributors of
the world.
The efficiency of the industrial sector in Bangladesh was
principally based on
the growth
in textile and wearing apparel, petroleum products, drugs and pharmaceuticals, fertilizer,
footwear, glass products, cement, electronics and food and
beverage industries.
The service sector is the major
contributor to the real Gross domestic product (GDP) of Bangladesh.
Agriculture in Bangladesh still holds an important position in their
economy.
Example of the course doing business in Bangladesh:
Export Processing Zones (EPZs) are export oriented industrial areas
which supply: infrastructures, facilities, administrative and assistance
services.
The annual market size for Information technology (IT): computer hardware, peripherals
and software, was 25 million USD.
Established under Investment Board Act 1989, the Board of Investment (BOI)
is the principal private investment promotion and facilitation agency of Bangladesh.
Desh Garments Ltd. Was the 1st export oriented ready-made garment
industry in Bangladesh. It was set-up in joint venture with Daewoo of South
Korea. Desh was the single biggest and most modern garment-manufacturing unit in the sub-continent.
Walton HIL is the pioneer of Refrigerator, Freezer, Air Conditioner and
Motorcycle Manufacturing Technology in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is one of the densely populated countries of the world (146.6 million). Bangladesh is bordered by
India and Myanmar. The majority of the people
are Muslim. 98% of the people speak in Bangla language.
