Bangladesh has expressed interest in importing limestone, a key raw material for cement production, from Pakistan.

The issue came up during a meeting between Prime Minister’s Coordinator on Commerce of Pakistan Ehsan Afzal Khan and Bangladesh’s Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin at the latter’s office in the Secretariat on Thursday morning.

During the meeting, both sides pledged to enhance bilateral trade and investment, deepen economic cooperation, and take commercial ties to a new height.

Our cement industry is highly import-dependent when it comes to raw materials, especially limestone and construction-grade stone. Annually, we require around 50 million tonnes of stone. To meet this demand, greater engagement between businesses of both countries is essential, said Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin.

He added that by ensuring labour productivity, utility proportion, logistics excellence, cost-to-finance and market access, there is an opportunity to expand the currently limited trade basket between the two countries.

This will help reduce the existing trade gap and further strengthen people-to-people ties,” he noted, while also stressing the need to create more opportunities in Pakistan’s market for Bangladeshi exporters.

Ehsan Afzal Khan, on his part, emphasized removing trade barriers and enhancing trade facilitation to boost bilateral commerce.

We want to significantly increase the trade volume through direct communication between business communities, exchange of trade missions, and reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, he said.

Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman and Additional Secretary (FTA) Ayesha Akhtar were also present at the meeting.