Published at: The Daily Star, October 29, 2019
Bangladesh will be able to double its export to India in three years if the former can utilise its trade potential in the northeastern Indian states, according to the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI).
Bangladesh’s export to India crossed $1 billion in the last fiscal year against imports of $10.5 billion, tilting the balance of the bilateral trade in favour of India.
“Our exports to India will reach $2 billion within the next three years as local exporters are enjoying various trade benefits in the neighbouring country and exploring the trade potential in Northeast India,” Abdul Matlub Ahmad, president of IBCCI, said yesterday.
He spoke at a press conference organised to highlight the outcomes of a recent visit of a Bangladesh delegation to India.
An 86-member team led by Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi sat with the Assam’s state government recently to discuss ways to boost bilateral trade.
It took Bangladesh eight years to reach $1 billion in exports to India. But now only three years would be needed to double exports as trade and connectivity improved between Assam and Bangladesh, according to Ahmad. There is a scope to expand the trade with the eight states in Northeast India in different sectors such as garment, education, tourism and IT, he said at briefing at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka.
North East India comprises of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur and Nagaland. About the potential of the garment sector, Ahmad said the cost of importing garment items to India from other countries is very high. This led western retailers to source apparel items from Bangladesh in big volumes to reduce cost, he said.
In this backdrop, both Bangladesh and Assam will work jointly to strengthen trade and economic ties.
“Considering the geographical proximity, both Assam and Bangladesh will be benefited,” he said. The IBCCI has given importance on boosting air, road, river, and cyber connectivity in order to remove physical barriers.
On non-tariff barriers, Ahmad said India has assured that if Bangladesh can pinpoint the hurdles, it would address them. “Now, our duty is to introduce quality products for the consumers in the Northeast India,” he said, adding that the region is open for business as there is no presence of insurgents.
The government of Assam has taken a decision to form a joint task force (JTF) with Bangladesh.
A delegation from the Indian state will visit Bangladesh to finalise the JTF within the next one month, Ahmad said.
M Shoeb Chowdhury, vice president of the IBCCI; Mohammad Ali, a former president, and Jahangir Bin Alam, secretary and chief executive officer, were present at the briefing.
