Founded in 1904, the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) is the oldest and the pre-eminent trade organization of Bangladesh.  Its membership roll encompasses leading commercial and large industrial organizations of the country, including public sector corporations and local as well as multinational companies. Presently, almost all major enterprises of the manufacturing and service sector are among its members. The Chamber provides a wide range of professional services to its members.

 

The Chamber’s services, developed over a long period, are comprehensive and cover specialized areas such as taxation, import-export, tariff and non-tariff measures, investment, WTO matters and other national and international economic and commercial concerns. The Chamber maintains a secretariat manned by professional staff. It offers secretarial services to the Bangladesh Employers’ Federation (BEF), the lone national level organization of employers in the country dealing with industrial relations, occupational safety and health, workplace cooperation, skills development, labor law and other labor-related issues.

 

The Chamber’s policy recommendations and inputs related to ongoing reforms have gained wide acceptance amongst government and policy makers. MCCI has earned recognition at home and abroad by offering services such as issuing certificate of origin, through conducting economic research and sector surveys, offering trade and investment facilitation services, legal services, information management and dissemination, and with publications related to trade and commerce.

 

The Chamber is represented in many Advisory Councils as well as Committees formed by various ministries of the government of Bangladesh. MCCI also maintains effective working relations with development partners, e.g., the World Bank Group, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Asia Foundation. MCCI has a long history of joint collaboration and corporate understanding. It interacts regularly with major international trade bodies and many private sector organizations located all over the world.