Textiles and Jute Minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak on Tuesday said the government wants to take the privilege of more exports of Bangladeshi readymade garments (RMG) and jute-made goods to Russia, reports BSS.

“Russia can be a big export market for Bangladeshi jute and jute-made goods,” he said while talking to journalists after a meeting with Russian Ambassador in Bangladesh Alexander V Mantytskiy at his secretariat office on Tuesday morning.

“Russia helped during our Liberation War and later extended cooperation for the reformation of the country,” he said, adding that since then Russia has been helping Bangladesh in various sectors.

Nanak said Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for

taking office as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for four consecutive terms after the 12th parliamentary elections.

Citing Russian’s assistance, the jute minister recalled that the Ruppur Nuclear Power plant is being constructed with the assistance of Russia.

Mentioning that the textile and jute ministry is putting emphasis on the export of jute and jute-made goods, he said, “So, discussion happened on how to arrange a ‘trade fair” between the two countries.”

Russia also assured of continuously providing the overall assistance to the economic development of Bangladesh, said the minister.

Responding to a query about whether Russian investment would come to the jute sector of Bangladesh, Nanak said the discussion is underway as their [Russian] trading representatives are arriving. “We are hopeful that Russian investors would invest in the jute sector”, he told the newsmen.

After the meeting, the Russian envoy said, “Many big companies have left Russia and Bangladesh can seize that opportunity, adding “Particularly, we want to import RMG, tobacco, agro and leather products from Bangladesh.”

Russia is also interested in importing jute and jute-made goods from Bangladesh, said Alexander.

Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan