UK Trade Envoy for Bangladesh arrives in Dhaka

Rushanara Ali, the UK Prime Minister`s Trade Envoy for Bangladesh, has arrived in Dhaka to reaffirm the importance the UK attaches to its trade and investment with Bangladesh: the UK is the second largest foreign investor in Bangladesh.

This is the first visit to Bangladesh of Rushanara Ali as a trade envoy, according to a British High Commission release.

During the visit, she will meet members of the British business community in Bangladesh, industry and business leaders, political leaders and senior members of the government.

"Ali`s visit is a sign of our commitment to build our trade and investment relationship with Bangladesh," the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Alison Blake, said.

Blake said her visit is a timely opportunity to discuss our commitments to build prosperity for both our countries, supporting Bangladesh`s economic development, and to identify ways to further strengthen our commercial and trade ties."

The cross-party trade envoy programme was established in 2012 to build bilateral trade relationships and help drive economic growth in countries identified as key markets for the UK.

They are unpaid positions. There are currently 24 Members of Parliament and Peers from across the political spectrum working as trade envoys covering over 50 different markets. All trade envoys are personally selected by the Prime Minister for their experience, skills and knowledge of particular sectors and countries.

This is part of a new whole-of-government approach to boosting trade with priority markets and sectors.