Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Matt Smith told the gathering: "Ladies and Chairman. Honorable Chairman Mr Rashed Chowdhury and Vice Chairman Mr Mohammed Abdur Rouf.I am delighted to be able to join you here today on the 15th Anniversary of the founding of the Mutual Trust Bank of Bangladesh.I would also like to congratulate Chief Executive Officer Mr Anisur Rahman of MTB Exchange UK (Ltd) here in London on your successes and these anniversary celebrations here in the UK.
The success of MTB Exchange UK in London is very much a metaphore for the continued success of the Bangladeshi community in our Borough.
It reflects the British-Bangladeshi diaspora’s ambition and determination to succeed here in the United Kingdom.
Your staff are at the forefront of the growing presence in the professions of British-Bangladeshi men and women.
At the same time many of MTB Exchange UK’s clients here are amongst the most dynamic businesses and wealth creators in Tower Hamlets.
My name is Matt Smith and I am the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow.
The Conservative Party is committed to the British-Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK and in Bethnal Green and Bow.
Conservative Friends of Bangladesh and the Conservative Muslim Forum are both major forces within our Party, both committed to securing better representation for their communities.
In the last year Bethnal Green and Bow Conservative Association has hosted Priti Patel MP; Adam Afriyie MP; Secretaries of State Eric Pickles MP and Elizabeth Truss MP; Kwasi Kwarteng MP. In a week or so we host Dr Syed Kamall MEP, Leader of the Conservative Group in the European Parliament and Honorary President of our local association.
In the New Year we are hosting Robert Halfon MP (PPS to the Chancellor of the Exchequer), Nick de Bois MP and Owen Patterson MP.
When these Conservative Parliamentarians visit Bethnal Green and Bow they are doing so as part of the Conservative Party’s drive to secure the highest standard of democratic representation for our communities in Bethnal Green and Bow and of course the Bangladeshi Community which contributes so much to our constituency.
It is my belief that the values of the Conservative Party are similar to the values of the Bangladeshi community.
The values that make me a Conservative - personal responsibility, enterprise, hard work, thrift, prudence, aspiration and a yearning for the next generation to do better - are the same ‘small c’ conservative values that I see lived in the by the Bangladeshi community in Bethnal Green and Bow.
We are profoundly fortunate here in the United Kingdom through our history to have the largest and most prominent Bangladeshi diaspora. Through the Commonwealth we have a shared historical experience, ambitions and values.
The economy of Bangladesh is a ‘next eleven developing economy’ and within the world of financial services, a ‘major frontier market’. By 2050 Bangladesh will have the worlds 31st largest economy with dynamic growth over the next few decades.
This dynamism is also reflected in the economic life of the British-Bangladeshi community.
In Bethnal Green and Bow, according to Barclays Bank, 27% of businesses in our area have international transactions many of which are with Bangladeshi institutions, many of which will be clients of MTB Exchange UK.
Our economic fortunes as countries are linked and if I am elected to represent Bethnal Green and Bow in the UK Parliament in 2015, it is my ambition that we should foster and strengthen links economic and geopolitical links with Bangladesh.
I will also work for all of our communities in Bethnal Green and Bow.
The British Bangladeshi community has shared in and indeed driven the economic improvements our constituency has seen since 2010.
We have achieved much together.
On 12 November Office for National Statistics labour market indicators show 2,113 fewer Job seekers’ Allowance claimants in Bethnal Green and Bow since October 2010, a reduction of 41%, meaning more households where people are in work with the security of a steady pay check.
Department for Business Investment and Skills figures show that this year 730 new apprenticeships were commenced in Bethnal Green and Bow. Locally 3,010 apprenticeships have been commenced since 2010.
In the third quarter of this year, according to Barclays Bank Local Insights statistics, consumer spending in Bethnal Green and Bow is up 8% (compared to 5% for the London region as a whole) on Quarter 3 last year.
People under 30 saw one of the biggest changes in spending compared to Quarter 3 last year. Biggest increase in spending by those earning less than £30,000 per annum.
Households in Bethnal Green and Bow are saving more too. Personal savings increased by 14% in the last year (much higher than the London and national average, 8% and 6% respectively). 41% of people in Bethnal Green and Bow have savings above the national average.
Over all turn over for small businesses has increased by 11% in inner eastern London over the same period. Retail turn over in our area is also up by 7%.46% of small businesses in Bethnal Green and Bow were created in the last three years.
And we are doing more.
Our commitment to raise the personal allowance to £12,500 and raising the threshold at which people pay the 40p rate of tax to £50,000 by 2020 would lift a total of 5,150 people in Bethnal Green and Bow out of income tax altogether.
Since April 2014, 2,500 businesses and charities in Bethnal Green and Bow have benefited from the Enterprise Support Allowance, with reductions in employers’ National Insurance Contributions making it easier for businesses to hire staff and create jobs.
These real material improvements are a reflection of the hard work and dynamism of local SMEs, hard working employees and job seekers striving to improve their lives and through this their communities.
We share the same ‘Long Term Economic Plan’ and the same economic and financial ambitions for employers and employees in our constituency.
Entrepreneurialism, aspiration and dynamism are the watchwords of our Party as we seek to work with the Bangladeshi Community in Bethnal Green and Bow to secure the pro-business, pro-growth agenda we need May 2015.
Thank you for inviting me here today and I wish Mutual Trust Bank of Bangladesh every good fortune throughout the decades ahead".