KARACHI, April 27: Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh M. Abdul Hannan has stressed the need for enhancing economic cooperation between Bangladesh and Pakistan to boost the bilateral trade volume to $1 billion in next two years.

Delivering a lecture on “Aspect of social and economic development of Bangladesh” at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) here on Thursday, Mr Hannan said Bangladesh had been transformed into a market-oriented economy, with thriving enterprises and improved macro indicators.

He said there was a realisation amongst Saarc-member states that mutual economic cooperation would go a long way in achieving development objectives.

“Regional cooperation, especially in economic fields, will lead to trade creation and not trade diversion, and this will certainly result in betterment of our masses as it translates the huge economic potential into trade activities boosting regional economies,” he added.

“Bangladesh is the 11th emerging nation in Asia in terms of growth and governance and its booming economic activities are luring a large number of foreign investments as Dhaka offers maximum incentives and facilities for setting up industries,” the Bangladeshi diplomat said.

He said Pakistan and Bangladesh were enjoying cordial relations but that was not reflected in trade volume which was just $250 million.

Mr Hannan said Bangladesh was not a cotton-producing country but it was one of the major textile exporters of the world and its exports were growing rapidly as it was enjoying a duty-free market access to the European Union, Canada and Australia.

He said his country’s exports stood at $9 billion, of this $7 billion were fetched by textile and garment sectors — the mainstay of Bangladesh economy. “The government is eyeing $10 billion in export earnings for next year.”

The diplomat suggested that Pakistan and Bangladesh should make efforts to expand bilateral trade in the textile sector. He also stressed the need for exchanging product-based delegations and enhancing people-to-people and business-to-business contacts to exploit the maximum opportunities. He also identified other areas of cooperation, including light engineering, information technology, pharmaceutical, etc.

He said liberal policies and improved macro management during the last one decade had helped the country achieve a sustained economic growth of more than five per cent a year, which not only generated new jobs and alleviate poverty, but also turned the country into an attractive destination for investment.

The Bangladeshi diplomat pointed out that Bangladesh last year received $800 million in foreign direct investment, and a big conglomerate of the region, Tata group, was keen to invest $2.5 billion in energy, iron and steel and cement sectors. He said further that an Abu Dhabi group had also indicated to invest $2 billion, adding that in a recent visit to Bangladesh, Pakistani textile tycoons had also shown interest in setting up units.

Mr Hannan said that consistent liberal economic policies pursued by the successive governments, exploration of new markets to enhance export, offering of micro-financing to the poor and empowerment of women were among the factors that had contributed to the development and progress of Bangladesh.