Longi, the largest solar panel manufacturer in the world, has decided to set up an office and invest in solar panel manufacturing in Bangladesh, Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen said on Sunday.
The ambassador said several top Chinese solar panel manufacturers visited Bangladesh in December to explore opportunities to invest in the country.
They made the visit after chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus extended an invitation to Chinese companies to relocate their manufacturing plants to the country as part of the interim government鈥檚 plan to turn the country into an economic hub, chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam said.
Ambassador Yao Wen said, of the companies that visited Bangladesh, at least two Chinese firms, including Longi, have decided to set up offices and plants in Bangladesh.
鈥楾hey will invest in Bangladesh very soon,鈥� he told chief adviser Professor Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka.
Yao Wen said Chinese firms have been the largest investors in Bangladesh since August 5, when the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power.
He said dozens of Chinese companies have lined up to invest in Bangladesh as a dedicated Chinese export processing zone is expected to be inaugurated soon.
The envoy said the upcoming official visit of the chief adviser to China would be the most important one in the 50-year-long relationship between the two trustworthy and close friends.
Professor Yunus welcomed more Chinese investors in Bangladesh, saying the country can be a top manufacturing hub for companies that want to export goods to Western nations.
He urged Chinese hospital chains to set up top clinics or build joint venture healthcare facilities with their Bangladeshi counterparts.
鈥楤angladesh needs massive investment in healthcare. The Chinese hospital chains now have unique opportunities to construct hospitals here,鈥� he said.
The ambassador said China dedicated four hospitals in the southern Chinese city of Kunming for Bangladeshi patients. A group of Bangladeshi people travelled to Kunming in the past week for treatment.
The ambassador said Peking University, one of the world鈥檚 top educational institutions, would confer an honorary doctorate on Professor Yunus during the visit.
The chief adviser would also speak at the university.
During the visit, the first bilateral foreign tour of the chief adviser, he would join and speak at the Boao Forum, considered the Davos of the East, where top leaders and CEOs gather every year to discuss top global issues.
Professor Yunus would deliver a speech on 鈥楢sia in a Changing World: Towards a Shared Future鈥�. The Chinese executive vice-premier will also join him during the session.
The Bangladesh chief adviser is expected to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping on March 28. The two countries will issue a joint statement after the meeting.
