Textile companies from Pakistan are continually establishing production units in Bangladesh due to availability of better infrastructure, cheaper utility prices and attractive tax incentives. According to Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan Noor-e-Helal Saifur Rahman, a Pakistani enterprise is about to make a very big investment in Bangladesh.
He, however, did not disclose the name of the Pakistani company while speaking on the sidelines of a recent seminar titled ‘Talking Bangladesh Where Export and Investment Grow Better’.
Pakistan’s Soorty Enterprises, which invested $35 mn by setting up a factory in Bangladesh more than five years ago, now employs 6,000 Bangladeshis, he said.
Bangladesh had planned to develop 100 economic zones nationwide over the next 15 years, which would create 10 mn jobs and produce export-oriented goods worth $40 bn, he told the seminar. Bangladesh has invited Prime Minister Imran Khan to the upcoming D8 summit, he said.
Balance of trade between the two countries is lopsided, he noted. According to latest data from the UN Comtrade, Pakistan’s exports to Bangladesh in 2018 were valued at $783.82 mn. On the other hand, Pakistan’s imports from the country amounted to $72 mn in the same period.
In the first six months of fiscal 2019-20, Pakistan recorded a trade imbalance of $11.7 bn, down 32 per cent, compared to the corresponding period of last year, when it faced a deficit of $16.8 bn.
Textile companies from Pakistan are continually establishing production units in Bangladesh due to availability of better infrastructure, cheaper utility prices and attractive tax incentives. According to Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan Noor-e-Helal Saifur Rahman, a Pakistani enterprise is about to make a very big investment in Bangladesh.
