Officials of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) and United States Embassy in Bangladesh attend a virtual town hall meeting organized by Amcham on Sunday, May 23, 2021
Courtesy
The virtual town hall aimed to overview the work and collaboration between AmCham and the US Embassy, and outline the situation
The American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) hosted a virtual town hall, titled “US-Bangladesh Economic Relation: Migration to a Developing nation”.
Ambassador of the United States of America to Bangladesh Earl R. Miller attended as the guest of honour and the President of AmCham Syed Ershad Ahmed was the session chair, said a press release.
Other attendees include Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) JoAnne Wagner, officials from the United States Embassy in Bangladesh, and Vice President of AmCham and Country Manager of Mastercard Syed Mohammad Kamal.
Air Alliance Limited powered the program, a UPS authorized service contractor.
The virtual town hall aimed to overview the work and collaboration between AmCham and the US Embassy, and outline the situation, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic and the new era of the Biden-Harris administration.
Also Read – Covid-19: AmCham to felicitate fronline journalists
AmCham Bangladesh will continue working with the US Embassy to promote and support US business in Bangladesh, the release also said.
The chamber also hopes to continue this series of discussions to focus on different industries and identify opportunities/issues and recommend action/policies to enhance economic cooperation between the US and Bangladesh.
Its officials said: “It might act as a catalyst to discuss joint efforts by AmCham and the US Embassy in partnership with the concerned stakeholders and how we both can play a supporting role in the ecosystem at large of doing business easier.
AmCham Bangladesh stated that partnerships are critical and they value mutual cooperation between the USA and Bangladesh. They are currently America’s fifty-second largest goods trading partner and the single largest market for Bangladesh goods in the world.
The US-Bangladesh bilateral trade volume crossed $9 billion, which AmCham hopes to increase, and the trade deficit reaches a little over $4 billion.
As such, the US is still the largest contributor to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bangladesh, and AmCham hopes further cooperation may attract more investment in diversified segments and contribute to Bangladesh’s growth to a developing nation.
AmCham Bangladesh commented that they are attempting to develop an approach that might help the business and regulatory leadership set priorities through systematic diagnostics and research — identifying opportunities to strengthen trade and investment ties between Bangladesh and the USA.
They added that the current trade and investment scenario is far below potential and a systematic assessment of opportunities may unleash the full potential of the opportunities between Bangladesh and the US.