Interviews
Dewan Saiful Alam Masud: The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to “promote, represent, and safeguard the interests of the Hong Kong business community.” To achieve such objectives, we have esteemed representatives specializing in various fields of business, as well as members who serve on various government advisory boards and thus play a direct role in the formulation of government policies. Furthermore, all chamber members vote for one legislative councilor.
Dewan Saiful Alam Masud: HKGCC has been organizing investment seminars where the Consul General and Hong Kong Bangladeshi businesspeople give presentations about business opportunities in Bangladesh. Along with the Consul General, I was one of the speakers at the last two Bangladesh seminars. BEZA, BIDA, PPP, and government representatives have made presentations to HKGCC committees. In such presentations, we explore and communicate the benefits of choosing Bangladesh as a potential business location. Such benefits include low labor costs, recent technological advancements, tax breaks, a young and educated workforce, global duty-free market access, a large domestic market, an increasing trend in local consumer purchasing power, appealing government policies and regulations for foreign investment, expanded export processing zones, and more.
Dewan Saiful Alam Masud: In 1999, I established my company in Hong Kong and Bangladesh. In February 1992, after finishing my final year, I joined Opex. After a few months, I was transferred to Opex’s Hong Kong office. Only a few Bangladeshi large apparel groups opened offices in Hong Kong at the time to communicate about buying houses, purchasing machinery, and sourcing raw materials. Almost everything was imported through Hong Kong. After working for Opex Hong Kong for over six years, I gained enough knowledge and confidence to take a risk and start my own business. Non-Bangladeshi companies were supplying fabrics and accessories to Bangladeshi apparel manufacturers at the time. As a result, I naturally reasoned that it would be more beneficial to us, Bangladeshis, if we began to dominate such transactions and instead kept the earnings within ourselves to then circle back by remitting or investing in Bangladesh rather than having foreign suppliers keep the earnings from Bangladesh to themselves.
Dewan Saiful Alam Masud: Due to the pandemic and conflict in Russia and Ukraine, there are supply chain disruptions, and increases in freight and raw material prices. Also, a global recession is looming so a difficult time is likely to be ahead for most industries, including textile and apparel accessories. Borrowers will be facing increased costs to get funding as the interest rate will be increased to tame inflation. In attempts to overcome such potential challenges, it is crucial to plan wisely and stay aware of global incidents. Increased knowledge and understanding of the global socioeconomic climate will allow entrepreneurs to prepare themselves and adopt appropriate measures to work around risks and consequences. It is also important to continuously analyze both individualistic and unique business patterns aligned with the situation and circumstances around them in order to predict future gains and losses and hence avoid any hindrances.
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