British High Commissioner in Dhaka Robert Chatterton Dickson on Wednesday said that the UK businesses are finding more prospects for trade and investment in Bangladesh as the country is progressing fast towards a middle-income country.
“We are seeing a lot of interest of British businesses and governments in building trade and development relationships as Bangladesh continues to reach middle-income country status. I think it is a very exciting time in our relationship,” he said, joining the first-ever virtual ‘DCAB Talk’ organised by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (DCAB).
DCAB President Angur Nahar Monty and UK High Commission Senior Press Officer Meher Jerin moderated the webinar. DCAB General Secretary Touhidur Rahman was also present.
Issues related to the ongoing UN General Assembly, climate change, COP26, COVID vaccines and support for Rohingya refugees were the highlights of the High Commissioner’s discussion.
He also assured Dhaka of getting the Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccines once ready.
The two-way trade between Bangladesh and the UK is four billion pounds.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem recently sought post-Brexit UK to continue its GSP, allowing zero-tariff access of Bangladeshi products to its markets until 2030, greater flexibility and concessions in Bangladesh's post-LDC graduation threshold and higher climate financing by the UK for moving towards a low-carbon, climate-resilient development pathway in the post-Covid global economic downturn.
Dickson said the UK will continue its concessionary measures for Bangladesh in terms of trade and at the same time, the UK has also invested more than 250 million pounds in Bangladesh over the last ten years.
He said the UK will remain a major development partner of Bangladesh in the coming years, apart from trade.
About 600,000 Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK is an ‘important link’ to Bangladesh, he said.
He said it does not matter if the Oxford vaccine trial is conducted in Bangladesh or not, but it will be made available here once ready.
The UK is also working with Bangladesh to develop a cold chain framework for the distribution of the vaccine across the country.
The High Commissioner also reiterated the UK's position on the Rohingya refugee issue.
He said the UK is strongly supporting the accountability mechanism of the Rohingyas against Myanmar that is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.
The International Criminal Court is also investigating crimes against the Rohingyas.
“We, as a pen-holder at the UN Security Council, will continue to ensure that Myanmar and Rohingya are on the agenda of the Security Council,” he said.
“Myanmar government will continue to face sanctions applied to it by other governments”.
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar. Over 800,000 of them fled the ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the Rakhine State in August 2017.