H.E Earl R. Miller, the U.S. Ambassador was present as the “Guest of Honor”.
The President – AmCham Mr. Syed Ershad Ahmed was present as the “Session Chair”. The event is also attended by Ms. JoAnne Wagner, Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), the United States Embassy in Bangladesh and concerned officials from the United States embassy in Bangladesh. Mr. Syed Mohammad Kamal, Vice President – AmCham & Country Manager, Mastercard – Bangladesh moderated the program. The program is powered by Air Alliance Limited(UPS Authorized Service Contractor) in Bangladesh.
Partnerships are critical and we value the mutual cooperation between the USA and Bangladesh. We are at present America’s 52nd largest goods trading partner and the single largest market for Bangladeshi goods in the world. The US – Bangladesh bilateral Trade Volume crossed $9 Billion, a number we are working hard to increase, and the trade deficit comes to little over $4 billion. USA is still the largest contributor to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bangladesh in different sectors & we hope more cooperation may attract more investment in diversified segments and contribute in Bangladesh migration to a developing nation.
AmCham Bangladesh will continue working with the US Embassy in Bangladesh and thankful for their excellent support in promoting US business in Bangladesh. This virtual ‘Town Hall’ was arranged to overview the work AmCham and US Embassy do in collaboration, an outline of the Generic situation, especially during the Pandemic in the new era of Biden-Harris Administration. We would like to continue this series of events focusing on different industries with a view to identify the opportunities/issues and recommend action/policies to enhance economic cooperation between the U.S.A and Bangladesh, particularly in that sector. It might act as a catalyst to discuss joint efforts by AmCham and the US Embassy in partnership with the concerned stakeholders and how we both can play a supporting role in the ecosystem at large ‘doing-business’ easier.
We at AmCham Bangladesh with a diverse membership base and outlook focusing on global, national or business ecosystem at large, attempt to develop an approach that might help the business & regulatory leadership set the priorities on right strategies making rapid and inevitable remedies. AmCham decided to undertake systematic diagnostics through a research to identify opportunities to further strengthen trade and investment ties between Bangladesh and the USA. The current trade and investment scenario ,however, remains far below potential. Unleashing the full potential of the opportunities between Bangladesh and the US will benefit from a systematic assessment of where the opportunities lie, what holds back the full potential, how other competitor countries are making headway, and identification of strategic options for the US stakeholders to maximize potential.
A good number of AmCham members including the Executive Committee Members, foreign dignitaries, business leaders, media representatives and other distinguished guests attended the event and Vote of Thanks was offered by AmCham Executive Committee member Mr. Showkat Ali Sarkar.