A Chilean public-private mission, led by the national director of the Agriculture and Livestock Service, Angel Sartori, is developing an intense schedule of meetings with importers and authorities of the People's Republic of Bangladesh in order to boost imports of Chilean fruit to that market.
The delegation is also comprised by the head of the International Affairs Division of the SAG, Veronica Echavarri; the head of the Division of Agricultural and Forest Protection, Rodrigo Astete; Chile’s agricultural attaché in India, Jaime Gonzalez, and the general manager of the Fruit Exporters Association of Chile (Asoex), Miguel Canala-Echeverria.
One of the most important meetings of the delegation was the one held with the Minister of Agriculture of Bangladesh, Matia Chowdhury, under which a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation in Sanitary and Phytosanitary Matters was signed between the director of SAG, Angel Sartori, and his counterpart in Bangladesh, AZM Momtajul Karim, director general of the Department of Agricultural Extension of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Asian nation.
On the occasion, Angel Sartori stressed that it was the first time that Chilean authorities in the field of agriculture had an approach to this country, "and that the framework of this MOU will allow technical exchanges on health and phytosanitary issues for both countries, as well as cooperation aspects of great importance for agricultural development in both countries." In addition, the director of SAG extended an invitation from the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Furche, to his counterpart in Bangladesh so he visits the country and gets to know Chilean agriculture.
For his part, the head of the Division of Agricultural and Forest Protection of the SAG, Rodrigo Astete, highlighted the fact of having this document, that "will allow us to address any future contingency that might hinder our exports to this country, stressing that there are currently small quantities of apples and woods being exported” He also added that, as there still were no phytosanitary requirements in place, possible exports could be verified as they came up.
Meanwhile, Miguel Canala-Echeverria, CEO of Asoex, said that the mission’s goal was to intensify contacts, both public and private, between the two countries, in order to encourage direct imports of Chilean fruits to this market in Asia. “Thus, we have also held important meetings with the major importers, who have shown great interest in our products, especially apples, grapes and citrus," he said.
The representative of Asoex also added that Bangladesh currently imported a large volume of fruit, and that its main suppliers were the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. There is a small presence of Chilean apples in that market that are imported directly from that country or through third countries, such as India or China.
"Bangladesh has a large range of imported fruits and there is a growing presence of local supermarkets, which offer these products. However, the marketing of imported fruit is usually done in wholesale markets. One of the main subjects and challenges analyzed by the delegation and the representatives of Bangladesh related to the transit time of the ships and the high tariffs on the entry of fruit from all destinations, which reaches 92%," stated Miguel Canala-Echeverria.
It’s worth noting that the activities and meetings in the city of Dhaka were coordinated by the General Consul of Chile in Bangladesh, Asif A. Chowdhury, who said that "this Chilean visit was well received by the Government of Bangladesh, as well as by fruit importers, since they wish to strengthen trade relations between both countries as soon as possible, especially regarding fruit. Bangladesh consumes 170 million imported fruits per year, i.e. nearly 150 million dollars."
The consul also said that a mission led by the Minister of Commerce of Bangladesh, Tofael Ahmed, senior government officials and businessmen from that country would visit Chile in August in order to strengthen ties and realize future business.