The United Kingdom on Tuesday expressed its keen interest to help Bangladesh reform its banking and revenue sectors alongside the capital market.
The interest surfaced as the UK high commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke called on finance adviser to the interim government Salehuddin Ahmed at his Economic Relations Division office in the city.
After the meeting, the finance adviser said that the UK was willing to help Bangladesh reform sectors like banking, revenue and capital markets.
鈥楾hose are very immediate concerns for us also. Because, unless we carry out those reforms it would be difficult for us,鈥� he told reporters after the meeting.
The adviser said that they have discussed enhancement of trade and commerce between the two countries.
鈥榃e want that the trade and commerce should flourish. The UK government was very helpful in the past and I hope that they will be helpful in the coming days as well. We are looking forward to their help and cooperation,鈥� he said.
The finance adviser and the British envoy also discussed the cooperation between Bangladesh and the UK.
Salehuddin mentioned that the UK was working mainly in economic development and women鈥檚 empowerment, adding, 鈥榃e will continue those as well. Private sector investment is also very much important. Big business houses of Britain have invested here.鈥�
The adviser said that he told them to diversify the import items from Bangladesh as his country mainly exported RMG items to the UK and the European countries.
He also said that Bangladesh would have to improve the business environment to attract more private investment.
鈥楩or that, the condition is to make business environment, ease doing business that means we have to fix the climate of doing business, otherwise private sector will not come,鈥� he said.
Mentioning that the discussion was very fruitful, the British high commissioner said that the UK and Bangladesh had a very strong economic, trade and investment relations.
鈥榃e鈥檙e very keen to expand our trade and investment ties and we also discussed how the UK can support the economic reforms in Bangladesh that the adviser is leading and how we may jointly work to bring our experts together to discuss the issues of economic reform and also how we can boost our trade and investment ties between the two countries,鈥� she said.
Responding to a question on mobilising more FDI from the UK, she said that the UK had a very strong partnership with Bangladesh.
鈥榃e鈥檝e a very strong and investment environment. Of course, we would like to see more FDI into Bangladesh,鈥� she added.
The envoy said that the British investors for sure were responsible investors, adding, 鈥業 discussed with the adviser how we can build investors鈥� confidence and strengthen our trade and investment ties.鈥�
Replying to another question, Sarah Cooke said she also discussed the economic reforms that Bangladesh was prioritising and how the UK can support Bangladesh in this regard.