He made the statement at a discussion with members of a Nepalese delegation at the FBCCI office in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday. The Nepalese delegation was led by the Nepal Department of Industry director general (joint secretary) Baburam Gautam. Mahbubul said that the energy sector was one of the most attractive areas for cooperation between Nepal and Bangladesh.

‘Bangladesh is facing a growing demand for power and energy to meet its Vision 2041 to become a developed Smart Bangladesh. Importing power from Nepal, especially clean energy, will help Bangladesh to meet the world trade compliances over shifting to renewable energy use,’ he added. The FBCCI president recalled the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Bangladesh and Nepal to import 500MW of electricity from Nepal. Bangladesh and Nepal have close cultural and economic ties and collaborate closely as both are the founding members of SAARC and active members of BIMSTEC, he said. Mahbubul said, ‘We are working to develop competitiveness to achieve the trillion-dollar journey of our economy and for that, we need to focus on market and product diversification to reach this target.’

‘Nepal can help Bangladesh to meet the demand for power and energy, especially clean energy,’ he said. The FBCCI leader called on Nepal to take advantage of the exclusive trade and investment opportunities in Bangladesh. Baburam Gautam said the Bangladesh-Nepal partnership speeded mutual respect between the countries. ‘Export items, including readymade garments, have high demand in the Nepalese market,’ he said.

News Link: Nepal could be source of clean energy: FBCCI