NACCIMA, FBCCI partner to boost Nigeria- Bangladesh trade value chain

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), have agreed to boost opportunities for both nations in trade and investment.

The agreement signed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), followed by an ‘FBCCI Cloud Conference’ between the two private sector associations, will add to the already $144.85 million bilateral trade between both countries as at 2019.

NACCIMA in a statement to the newsmen, said the landmark agreement was carried out by FBCCI President, Sheikh Fazle Fahim, NACCIMA National President Hajiya Saratu Iya-Aliyu, Director of Asia, Pacific Division of the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Aisha Dewa and National Vice President of NACCIMA Engineer Jani Ibrahim, among others.

It stated that Bangladesh-Nigeria’s long humane relations have been marked by engagements at the UN, OIC, Commonwealth, D-8 and D-8 CCI.

“However, our bilateral potential remains largely untapped. Bilateral trade in FY 2019-20 stands at $144.85mn. To improve trade, bilateral value chain initiatives may be explored in energy, oil and petroleum products, cocoa production, and processing, FMCG, home appliances, pharmaceuticals, etc,” it added.

Highlighting FBCCI’s advocacies in its continuous engagements in complement to the government’s response he said, “As we navigate the next normal, we are confident in our economy as it is demonstrating strong recovery trend with GDP growth and remittance growth and FOREX reserve growth.

We successfully solicited a targeted roadmap to recovery in a broad spectrum of socio-economic agendas through proactive advocacies with both our national and international stakeholders.

Highlighting Bangladesh’s success and development even during an unprecedented pandemic, Fahim further stated that comparing compliant markets and transitioning economies like Bangladesh’s ROI makes us an attractive destination with IP protection in place for technology transfer.

“The two nations could jointly explore investment options tapping into Bangladesh’s production competitive edge and Nigeria’s pool of raw materials and expertise. Nigerian investors can tap into Bangladesh’s production competitive edge, domestic consumer base, regional market access that is Duty-Free Quota Free (DFQF) to India, China, EU, Canada, Australia, APTA, etc,” he added.

Hajiya Saratu Iya-Aliyu said, “Today’s event is an attestation of the fact that cooperation between the Nigerian – Bangladesh Private sectors and businesses are on the rise especially in the areas of trade, ICT, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. As chamber members of the D-8, this is indeed a right step in the right.”