Karachi, 30 November 2022:

Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi, S. M. Mahbubul Alam had a call on the Governor of Sindh Province of Pakistan H.E. Mr. Muhammad Kamran Khan Tessori at the Sindh Governor’s House in Karachi.

Governor of Sindh Province of Pakistan H.E. Mr. Muhammad Kamran Khan Tessori very warmly received the Deputy High Commissioner at the Governor House. The Principal Secretary at the Secretariat of the Sindh Governor, ADC to the Governor and other officials warmly welcomed the Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh on arrival at the Governor House.

During the meeting the Deputy High Commissioner expressed his profound thanks and gratitude for the honor they extended to him and conveyed to the Governor the greeting of the Government of Bangladesh. He also expressed deep sympathy to the affected people of Sindh and the rest of Pakistan by the recent devasting and unprecedented floods in Pakistan. 

During the meeting the Deputy High Commissioner S. M. Mahbubul Alam had the honor to brief the Governor on various socio-economic achievements in Bangladesh. He said that Bangladesh has become a ‘Role Model’ of socio-economic development in the world and Bangladesh is currently among the five fastest growing economies in the world, ranking 41st in terms of GDP. He mentioned that Bangladesh has full filled all the criteria for the graduation to developing countries from the LDC status and has been confirmed to be graduated from the LDC in 2026. He also shared the vision that the present government of Bangladesh has been striving hard to implement “Vision-2041” to turn Bangladesh into an upper middle-income country by 2031 and a developed country by 2041 and building a prosperous and climate-resilient delta by 2100. 

Deputy High Commissioner also highlighted that Bangladesh is the largest delta in the world, which is a production powerhouse. He further mentioned that Bangladesh is 1^st in Jute export, 2^nd in Jute production, 2^nd in RMG production, 3^rd in Freshwater fish production, 4^th in Rice production, 7^th in Potatoes production, and 8^th in Remittance receipt. Bangladesh is 2^nd in contributing UN Peacekeepers. Bangladesh is a self-sufficient country in food production. He added that in Bangladesh the current primary enrollment rate is over 98 percent, electricity coverage is 100 percent, the literacy rate is around 78 percent, and per capita income is USD2,824. Bangladesh meets 97 percent of medicines produced by over 300 state-of-the-art pharmaceutical companies and exports to over 80 countries in the world. He further briefed that the potential of trade and commerce and investment in Bangladesh is huge as she has been working to establish 100 specialized economic zones across the countries. He requested for investment in Bangladesh and import more items such as raw jute, tea, chemical fertilizer, garments, leather and lather products, plastic items, ceramic products, and pharmaceutical products from Bangladesh.

Deputy High Commissioner briefed the Governor Sindh that two separate delegations from Federation of Pakistan of Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) and delegation from Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) have recently visited Bangladesh. The FPCCI delegation had meetings with Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) and other business bodies and the TDAP delegation had meetings with Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and other business groups in Bangladesh. Deputy High Commissioner further mentioned that a delegation of 18-businesspersons also recently visited Bangladesh to participate in Exhibition and another delegation of 16 tanner-owners from Tanners Association in Pakistan (TAP) is expected to visit Bangladesh during December 2022. 

The Governor Sindh highly appreciated the socio-economic developments in Bangladesh. He commented the development of Bangladesh is very impressive and further commented that his country might learn from Bangladesh, which is truly an example for the countries in the region. He commented that when he talks to his political activists and other leaderships he emphasizes to be NOT like USA or China rather LIKE Bangladesh and to follow Bangladesh’s model of socio-economic development. He profoundly appreciated the Bangladesh leaderships and the development policies, drives and initiatives. He commented that the impressive success story of Bangladesh’s socio-economic developments is also an encouragement for them to overcome their development challenges. He was encouraged to learn that business delegations are being visiting to Bangladesh and attached huge importance to exchange of more business delegations from both the countries for wider contacts and networks among the business people and to explore the potential areas of further cooperation.

Governor Sindh assured the Deputy High Commissioner to all supports from the Sindh Government for enhanced trade and business with Bangladesh. He added that the two counties have huge potential for growing together in the bilateral and regional fronts such in the in forum like D- 8 for wider collaboration and cooperation.

The Governor Sindh extended very warm greeting to the Government of Bangladesh. He candidly assured to all cooperation towards Bangladesh Mission in Karachi. The Deputy High Commissioner had extended sincere thanks and profound gratitude to the Governor Sindh for his warm hospitality, cordiality and greetings. He also presented the Governor Sindh with two books tiled: Unfinished Memoire of the Father of the Nation and Bangabandhu: The People’s Hero. A sketch of the National Poet of Bangladesh Kazi Nazrul Islam was also presented to the Governor with another Ceramic Souvenir imprinted the Sketch of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 

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