The Bangladesh government has urged Nigerians to invest in its agriculture, pharmaceuticals, garments and light engineering sectors to promote all-round development.
The country also proposed knowledge-sharing on food production and youth empowerment as a joint development initiative.
The Bangladesh High Commissioner to Nigeria, Miah Kabir, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Wednesday that Nigerian government officials, business leaders and chamber representatives had expressed interest in learning from Bangladesh’s experiences.
Kabir said the interest also extended to youth empowerment, women’s development, information technology and agriculture.
He said the interest would provide opportunities for both countries to deepen cooperation through people-to-people contacts, business engagements and exchange of expertise.
“Nigerians are interested in learning from Bangladesh, in areas such as youth empowerment, women empowerment and social development just as Bangladesh has achieved,” he said.
The high commissioner said Bangladesh had developed considerable experience in spite of having fewer natural resources than Nigeria, but relying significantly on human capital to strengthen food production, manufacturing and other sectors.
He described human capacity as one of Bangladesh’s major resources, and said that the country had achieved substantial domestic food production in spite of its limited land area.
According to him, Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical industry also has significant capacity, with high records of exported pharmaceutical and agricultural products.
He added that ready-made garments, shrimps, halal meat and light engineering products are exported to different markets of the world, including Africa.
He said these experiences create opportunities for Nigerian businesses to explore and partner with Bangladeshi companies, particularly in sectors where Bangladesh has developed expertise.
Kabir expressed confidence that Bangladeshi investors could equally become more interested in Nigeria’s economy to boost bilateral relationships.
“Nigerians are encouraged to invest in Bangladesh. Our economic cooperation will establish a closer relationship, which I believe Bangladeshis will be interested in investing in Nigeria,” he said.
He also stressed that bilateral cooperation should not be restricted to government-to-government engagement, but should include businesses, young people, academics, cultural groups and other members of society.
“If we come closer together, we can make people-to-people contact closer. We can also share from Nigeria,” he said.
NAN reports that Nigeria and Bangladesh have maintained diplomatic relations while both countries have continued to explore opportunities in trade, investment, development and people-to-people exchanges.
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