As part of the plain to attain rapid economic development of the country, the government is continuously working to encourage foreign investment. With the slogan ‘My Village My town’, all modern facilities will be made available in every village of the country. Agriculture minister Dr Abdur Razzak made this comment while inaugurating ‘7th BAPA FoodPro International Expo 2019’ as chief guest at International Convention Centre, Bashundhara in the capital on Wednesday.
The minister said, “The government is ready to provide all sorts of supports to the foreign investors. Bangladesh is a potential country for investment. At present, 100 economic zones are being established, construction of massive infrastructure is also underway. We are here to welcome more investors in the coming days”.
“Being a disaster prone country, now we are self sufficient country in food production. We produce almost every kind of agricultural products. During last Boro season, the country has produced more paddy against market demand”, the minister added. Urging to safeguard the farmers’ interest, he said, “Despite huge production, our farmers are not getting fair price. During the last season we have bought enough paddy from the farmers. So there is no chance to hike rice price”, he continued, “this season the government will purchase six lakh tonnes of paddy at Tk 400ton”.
“The country led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is continuously attaining economic development. Food safety is one of the major parts of Sustainable Development Goal. The country is producing additional four million potato, which is big opportunity for agro export. Government is ready to provide all sorts of help to achieve the goals”, he further said.
Acting Indian high commissioner Bishwadip Dey also spoke as special guest on the occasion. He said, “Bangladesh is tremendously doing well in agro sector. Export earnings is also increasing. India is one of the biggest markets of agro products as Bangladesh exports 21 types of agro products there”.
“The bilateral relations of the two countries will become stronger in the coming days”, he further said. Bangladesh Safe Food Authority Chairman Syeda Sarwar Jahan said, “The country is now exporting agricultural products to 144 countries. We need to nurture this sector further. Few days back, a research by United States showed that there was harmful chemical present in turmeric which was exported from Bangladesh.”
To this end, she urged all concerned to ensure safe food production and reach this to every doorstep. Robert Douglas Simpson, representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture, on the occasion said, agricultural is a dynamic and powerful sector. Private organisations are doing well in this sector. If quality is ensured, the sector will achieve further progress.
Among others, ambassador of France Jean-Marin SCHUH, ACI agri business managing director Dr FH Ansari, BAPA general secretary Ektadul Haque and event organizer Ahsan Khan also spoke on the occasion. Currently, BAPA consists of 300 members who are exporting to 144 nations worldwide with an export value of USD 372 Million and the total export value in this sector is USD 700 Million which is expected to rise above USD 1 Billion by the year 2021.
7th BAPA FoodPro International Expo 2019 is Bangladesh’s only show on food products, food processing and packaging products and machinery. It will attract all stakeholders from the retail and wholesale food, beverage service sectors generating new connections and new business for everyone involved. The expo will remain open for all from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm in the course of three days.