Envoy seek ways to boost Nigeria-Bangladesh bilateral trade

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Nigeria Mr Masudur Rahman, has called for more comprehensive ways to boost the growing trade relations between Nigeria and Bangladesh. Rahman made the call on Thursday in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He said the trade volume between both countries currently stands at about $70 million dollars with prospects of solidifying and tapping into other areas of mutual interest. “The bilateral trade between Nigeria and Bangladesh currently stands at a modest $70 million dollars, with Bangladesh only contributing $20 million as export to Nigeria. Previously the bilateral trade was even much insignificant but it is picking up, So we are working on all fronts to deepen the bilateral cooperation in the areas of education, technical training exchanges, pharmaceuticals, ICT, software, textile/garments, and so on,” he said.

The envoy said Bangladesh was willing to deepen trade with Nigeria in the Oil/gas sector and agricultural sector with products like cotton, soya beans, ginger, millet, etc. He, however, stressed the need to smoothen all bottlenecks associated with international trade and banking, especially in Nigeria, so as to have more seamless trade and investment. “There are a lot of challenges in deepening the trade and investment, particularly in the way the banking sector could work to enhance the trading. In order to improve international trade, it is important for both countries to smoothen the transactions which are used through Letters of Credit opening and other banking tools. We also need to work on the areas of smooth handling, of course, of the goods and products and services that are offered,” he said.

The high commissioner said Bangladesh was looking forward to engaging more with Nigeria in areas like textile/garments, pharmaceuticals, and software which Bangladesh exports to the tune of $1.4 billion dollars. Rahman recalled that Prof. Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy had in January led a 17-member delegation to Bangladesh to deepen bilateral cooperation between both countries. He, therefore, advocated for more such engagements which were facilitated by the Nigeria-Bangladesh Business and Technology Forum. He said the high commission would continue to work with relevant stakeholders to strengthen the cordial bilateral relations between both strategic countries. (NAN)