Dhaka reduced imbalance in trade, improved investment: Bangladesh PM adviser

Mashiur Rahman, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh stated that Bangladesh prioritized on the reduction of imbalance in trade and improvement in investment.

Indian Chamber of Commerce in association with Department of Commerce, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Government of India organizes 2 days India Bangladesh Buyers Sellers Meet on 19th & 20th October’22, where more than 35 Bangladesh Buyers and 150 Indian Seller participated in the BSM.

Syed Moazzam Hossain, Director, FBCCI made the opening said that India Bangladesh Buyers Sellers meet is an important platform for improving the bilateral relations between the two countries. He further mentioned that Bangladesh and Indian governments should give each other the opportunity for exports by solving the trade, non-trade barriers and visa issues that exist between the two nations. Bangladesh, as he remarked has a lot of consumer and industrial products which create a closer relationship with border trade through border haats.

He emphasized on improvement of connectivity through roads, railways and waterways which would boost the opportunity of both the countries to strengthen the trade relations.

M K Saharia, Chairman-NER, ICC focused on the Growth and rapid development of the two countries and mentioned on the regions strategic importance of gateway to South East Asian countries for which Act East policy becomes important. India has various local resources for industrial use and raw materials and finished products for south Asia and ASEAN countries and can take import from Bangladesh. He further stated that the process of several connectivity projects are moving fast and North East India will be connected to the world through road, river and air in the near future.

Shah Mohammad Tanvir Monsur, Asst. Higher Commissioner of Bangladesh, Guwahati focused mainly on the need to change the rules and regulations of trade by increasing the number of items for trade, joint value chain model, modernize the land custom station , parking system and connectivity in land custom station and converting the volume measurement system of the vehicles into freight bridge.

Bimal Borah, Minister Industries & Commerce of Assam stated that the trade relations between Bangladesh, India and ASEAN countries can be enhanced through Mongla and Chittagong ports and a part of exports can be delivered to third countries. A firm commitment between the two countries will affirm the trade relations between the two countries. He further mentioned that such buyers sellers meet serve as a platform for a strong and dedicated approach to strengthen the bilateral relation between the two countries.

B L Verma Minister of State, Ministry of DoNER and Cooperation, Government of India stated that Bangladesh, being the nearest country to India may be of great help to India to have more defined trade relations with each other. He also mentioned that Bangladesh can be used as the largest market for North East Region.

M. Shoeb Chowdhury, Vice President. IBCCI ststed India is a very trusted and proud partner of Bangladesh and both the countries have the ambition of being a strong partner in terms of trade. He said that the main focus should be on roads, railways, airways and ports. He mentioned that more items should be included in the positive list of imports and exports. He said that doing business in India is one of the most challenging tasks for investors of Bangladesh as there are many issues which hinders the investors in terms of trade.

Mashiur Rahman, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh stated that Bangladesh is consistent with most of the economy and prioritized on the reduction of imbalance in trade and improvement in investment. He further mentioned that due to no direct transportation to Nepal and Bhutan, there is huge trade expenditure on the side of Bangladesh. He also mentioned that the custom system needs to be improved, the agreement of protocol for thorough movement of transportation and the policy to how strictly it should be enforced should be given prior importance so that the exporters and importers do not involve in illicit trade.

He talked about trade and non-trade barriers which need to be addressed seriously and there should be a systematic arrangement to ensure the standards of all the consignments and if all the requirements have been adequately addressed. He gave the example of Jute industry which is facing a loss because of bad performance and periodic inflation in Bangladesh due to anti-dumping of subsidy from the Indian side. He further said that to improve the imports and exports, Bangladesh should have access to ports outside Bangladesh. He talked on how cargo traffic is more profitable than passenger traffic. There was also the mention of Inland water navigation as a very promising area which can carry small consignment of goods and improve trade but it requires flow of adequate water from upstream to downstream of river.