Pak business delegation to visit Dhaka from 10 Jan, meet CA, other officials

Highlights:

• 24-member FPCCI delegation to visit Dhaka on 10-15 Jan
• Delegation to meet Chief Advisor Yunus, Commerce Advisor Bashir
• Delegation consists leading industrialists, businessmen from various sectors of Pakistan

A 24-member delegation from the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI), the apex body of Pakistani businessmen, will visit Dhaka from 10 to 15 January, according to commerce ministry sources.

During the visit, the delegation will meet Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus and Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin, the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka said in a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The businessmen will also meet Bangladesh Investment Development Authority Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun and Export Promotion Bureau Vice Chairman Anwar Hossain.

The delegation is visiting Bangladesh at the invitation of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), reads the letter.

FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh and Senior Vice President Saquib Fayyaz Magoon will lead the delegation consisting of leading industrialists and businessmen from various sectors of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a six-member delegation led by Trading Corporation of Pakistan Chairman Syed Rafeo Bashir Shah reached Dhaka yesterday. 

The delegation will meet with the chairman of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh and other senior officials today (Tuesday). According to sources, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) may be signed between the trade organisations of both countries during the meeting. 

Relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan have been improving after the change of government in Bangladesh. Trade between the two countries has also increased.

On 2 September last year, during a meeting at the Secretariat with Home Affairs Adviser Lieutenant General (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Ahmed Maruf, announced that Bangladeshi citizens would be exempt from visa fees for visiting Pakistan. This benefit is part of Pakistan's new visa policy, which applies to Bangladesh, along with 126 other countries.

Recently, two container ships from Karachi, Pakistan, made their maiden direct voyage to Chattogram port, marking the first such shipment since Bangladesh's independence. 

Bangladesh mainly imports raw materials for the textile industry, especially cotton, from Pakistan. Apart from this, Bangladeshi businessmen also import raw materials for cement. 

On the other hand, Bangladesh exports raw jute, tea, ready-made garments, hydrogen peroxide and medicines to Pakistan.