The Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd in Bangladesh, Mr. Steve Banner, recently delivered a 2 hour presentation covering business opportunities in Bangladesh to representatives from approximately 50 major US companies at HSBC's New York City offices on 5th Avenue.

Entitled 'Understanding and Navigating Opportunities in Bangladesh' the presentation provided potential US buyers / investors with insights into the opportunities available in Bangladesh. The presentation, which covered import/export regulations, investment guidelines and opportunities within EPZs, was followed by a lively Q&A session.

Commenting on the event Mr. Banner explained “Given the rising production costs in other countries, Bangladesh is attracting an increasing amount of interest from international buyers and investors. I was therefore delighted when my HSBC colleagues in New York invited me to speak to some of their largest US customers about the opportunities in Bangladesh. The audience was very attentive and knowledgeable, and there were many large companies that were very keen to link up with potential suppliers in Bangladesh. Given our global network, HSBC is in a unique position to put its overseas customers, in this case in the USA, in direct contact with HSBC customers here in Bangladesh. Hopefully this event will result in new orders for some of our customers in Bangladesh, as well as increased investment in the country. The event was so popular that we are now planning a similar programme for companies based on the US West Coast".

HSBC is the leading bank facilitating international trade to and from Bangladesh, having handled 9.7% of the country's exports in 2007.