Trade bodies representing Bangladesh and Russia have signed a pact aimed at removing barriers to boost investment and cooperation between the two countries.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Russia-Bangladesh Business Council signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday as the two nations seek to boost bilateral trade, currently pegged at nearly $2 billion.
“By combining our respective strengths, resources, and expertise, we can unlock significant new opportunities for mutual benefit,” Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Khozin said.
He added that, to achieve this, the two countries need to remove existing barriers in regulation and logistics.
The pact was inked on the sidelines of a meeting of the meeting of the Bangladesh-Russia Intergovernmental Commission, a government to government mechanism that the countries have established to facilitate trade and investments.
Ilya Shestakov, head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Fisheries, who led the Russian delegation to Dhaka, pointed out the need to roll out a payment infrastructure to tap the trade potential, especially given that Moscow has been cut off from the global financial system by Western sanctions.
“We see strong prospects for expanding cooperation in oil and gas supplies. Russia is ready to help meet Bangladesh’s growing demand for LNG and to participate in projects for the development of oil and gas fields in the country,” he said.
FBCCI Administrator Fazlul Hoque cited significant opportunities to expand trade and investment, but said, “existing barriers needed to be identified and addressed jointly.”
Bangladesh’s exports to Russia include ready-made garments, alongside jute, leather products, pharmaceuticals, headgear, furniture and food products. Russia supplies wheat, fertilizers, agricultural products, industrial equipment and nuclear machinery.
The Rooppur plant, the South Asian nation’s first nuclear power faclity, was built at a cost of $12.65 billion, with Russian financial and technical support. It is expected to help meet Bangladesh’s surging power demands. The first unit of the plant is expected to be connected to the national grid later this month.