Besides representatives from the province, the association, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade), 200 businesses from Bangladesh and Thai Binh province attended the conference.

Vice Chairman of the Thai Binh provincial People's Committee Lai Van Hoan briefed participants on the province’s socio-economic situation. Despite difficulties and challenges in 2023, Thai Binh reached GRDP of nearly 2.7 billion USD, export turnover of 2.6 billion USD and import value of 1.8 billion USD, and attracted over 3 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI), ranking 5th in the country.

He affirmed that the province is ready to welcome and committed to providing maximum support for Bangladeshi investors in terms of policies, legal procedures for investment, import and export of goods, and customs as well as ensuring a favourable investment, production and business environment. It will always listen to and promptly resolve difficulties, meeting all essential conditions for investors to operate stably and smoothly in the province, Hoan added.

For his part, Ashraf Ahmed, President of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that with more than 5,000 Bangladeshi member enterprises, the chamber plays an important role in developing the Bangladesh economy on the global scale.

Bangladesh currently has competitive investment regulations with many financial and non-financial benefits and a favourable legal environment for investors, such as 100% tax exemption for foreign ownership, bonded warehouses, and protection of intellectual property rights. Bangladesh has established Bilateral Investment Agreements (BITs) and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTTs) with 35 countries, including Vietnam.

He said Bangladesh and Vietnam have launched many initiatives to enhance economic cooperation, and the bilateral trade partnership between the two countries has been growing. However, there is still much potential, and the two sides need to strengthen cooperation to exploit each other's strengths, Ahmed said.

The official also emphasised that Bangladeshi enterprises wish to boost business cooperation in Vietnam, especially in the fields of agricultural product and food processing; finance; healthcare; construction materials; electronics, and garments.

He also hopes that Vietnamese investors in general and Thai Binh province in particular will come to Bangladesh to explore investment cooperation opportunities.