Friendship through trade

Malaysia observes her National Day on 31 August each year to commemorate the historic event when the Federation of Malaya gained independence in 1957. Since its inception, Malaysia has been working with the determination to build a happy and prosperous nation with its people. 

This journey towards economic and social liberation is a wonder not only for this region but for the people of the whole world. Malaysia is now a younger, politically conscious, and newer nation. One of the first nations to acknowledge the new country, it recognised Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign State on 31 January 1972. Since then, both have made significant progress in establishing their bilateral relationship.

Bangladesh and Malaysia have both become development role models, thanks to their forward-thinking governments. Malaysia is a crucial bilateral partner for our development due to its fast economic growth, strategic position, active engagement in our local region, and close ties to Bangladesh in many areas. 

There are several active and cooperative relationships between the two countries across a wide variety of areas. Trade and investment, human resources, education, aviation, tourism, sports, the military, research and technology, drug control, human trafficking, and recently developing fields like digital commerce are some of these.

Due to its extensive international commerce, Malaysia is regarded as an important regional trading centre for the ASEAN nations. Bangladesh has been Malaysia's second-largest commercial partner in South Asia in recent years as a result of growing commerce between the two countries. In this year of Bangladesh's Golden Jubilee of independence, I believe it has attained exceptional heights: from $10.9M in FY1994–1995 to $337M in FY2021–2022, Bangladesh's exports to Malaysia have grown at an annualised rate of 12.4% during the past 25 years.

To strengthen commercial connections, BMCCI continually works to improve cooperation between its members and the Malaysian business sector. The BMCCI is making a commendable effort to set up trade promotion events, such as luncheon meetings, conducting seminars on pressing problems, business forums, trade fairs, exchange of business delegations, symposiums, etc. as a tactic for expanding trade and investment prospects between Bangladesh and Malaysia. 

The chamber's signature program is called "Showcase Bangladesh" and "Showcase Malaysia". Foreign Direct Investments in Bangladesh from Malaysia and vice versa are encouraged by BMCCI.

Despite having a significant trade deficit in the past, our export capacity has increased recently. Thanks to BMCCI's work with the business communities of both nations to introduce them to our diverse export goods, we are moving toward a situation with balanced trade. That is why this year, we on behalf of BMCCI have set the theme for Malaysia's Independence Day as "Friendship through Trade".

Syed Almas Kabir is the president of Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry