Celebration of Swiss-Bangla ties in October
October will witness the celebration of the 40 years of Swiss-Bangla friendship, jointly organised by Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI) and Embassy of Switzerland.
The Swiss embassy's deputy head of mission, Gabriele Derighetti, gave the announcement in a meeting with the CCCI Board of Directors at the latter's office yesterday.
Welcoming Gabriele Derighetti, CCCI President Murshed Murad Ibrahim said Switzerland is a very important socio-economic development partner of Bangladesh and bilateral trade between the two countries stood at US $ 337 million in 2011.
Praising medium and small Swiss enterprises, he asked for technical assistance for the same sectors in Bangladesh and more financial assistance from Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for human resource development.
Stating Chittagong's importance as a trade and business hub, Gabriele Derighetti opined that there is growing interest among Swiss entrepreneurs on the prospective sectors of this region.
Bilateral trade is now around 20 to 30 percent higher than what was a few years ago, he added.
Referring to the ready made garment sector, which occupies 90 percent of the imports to Switzerland, he emphasised on product diversification and infrastructure development.
CCCI Senior Vice President Mahbubul Alam, its directors Mahfuzul Hoque Shah, Emdadul Hoque Chowdhury and Morshed Arif Chowdhury and the embassy's Research and Communication Officer Khaled Chowdhury were present.
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