Forty one bankers from the country’s 17 commercial banks participated in the ICC Austria Global Trade Finance Week held recently in Vienna, Austria.

The three-day event was also attended by more than 200 bankers from EU countries and discussed issues related to letters of credit, bank guarantees and credit risks, said a media release of International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (ICCB).
ICCB President Mahbubur Rahman was the chief guest at the concluding session of the 11th Global Conference on Letters of Credit, International Trade Finance Week. He mentioned that Bangladesh needs to enhance its capacity and efficiency in the banking sector on a priority basis as the country is now 41st largest economy in the world with a GDP of US$270 billion growing at 7.2 percent per annum.

Merchandise export is US$40 billion and merchandise import is US$ 43 billion and both are growing at a healthy rate as depicted by the GDP growth, Rahman said, adding that ICCB has arranged jointly with ICC Austria the event in Vienna for the bankers as EU is the largest export destination for the garment industry.

ICCB Banking Commission Chairman Muhammad A (Rumee) Ali and Helal Ahmed Chaudhury, former managing director of Pubali Bank and Member of ICCB Banking Commission were invited as speakers by ICC Austria to talk on Risk Management and Corporate Governance and Challenges of Correspondent Banking Relationship for Banks respectively.

ICCB Secretary General Ataur Rahman also attended and briefed the participants about the activities of ICCB. He also proposed to arrange a similar event jointly with ICC Austria in Bangladesh early next year.

The delegation members included Md. Hashem Chowdhury, Additional Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Mutual Trust Bank Limited, Amin Uddin Ahmed and Tariqul Islam Chowdhury, deputy managing directors of Sonali Bank Limited, Shah Md. Abdul Bari, deputy managing director of EXIM Bank Limited, Md. Abdul Hye.