Newly-installed Honorary Consul General Virgilio Espeleta of the Consulate Office of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has expressed plans to boost the relations between the Visayas and the South Asian country.
“There are a lot of opportunities in Bangladesh and the most interesting is really to develop these trade relations, specifically the areas of Visayas and Bangladesh,” Espeleta said Wednesday, following his installment as an honorary consul general.
The Consulate General Office of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh officially opened Wednesday afternoon at the Advent Business Center in Cebu.
Espeleta, who is the immediate past president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has urged business leaders to explore economic opportunities in Bangladesh.
“The different areas that we can work together with are garments, information and communications technology, shipbuilding, shipbreaking, agriculture, tea, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, furniture, fruits, and leather industry,” he said.
“There are many areas we can benefit from, either we buy and sell or we trade or we invest in those areas. Let’s go there, let’s explore and do business together with the Bangladeshis,” the Cebuano trader told his fellow businessmen.
Espeleta said the primary role of Bangladesh’s Honorary Consulate General in Cebu and the Visayas is to represent the Philippines in the affairs of the region.
He said he is going to be “the go-to guy” among Bangladeshis in the Visayas provinces.
The consul said he is looking to boost friendship and linkage between the two countries in the fields of arts, culture, and tourism.
He stressed the need to enhance trade, investments, and mutual business relations between the two Asian countries.
Espeleta also shared that his installment as Bangladesh’s envoy to the region wasn’t planned at all.*PNA
