India and Bangladesh are not competitors but collaborators in making both countries prosperous and ensuring a better future for their people, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.
Speaking at the meeting of India-Bangladesh Business Forum in the presence of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina, Goyal urged the Indian industry to be part of Bangladesh’s growth story with greater investment in infrastructure, technology and energy where Bangladesh has huge potential.
This, he said, will help to create more balanced trade between the two countries. At present, the balance is heavily in favour of India.
According to Indian Commerce Ministry statement, India’s exports to Bangladesh for the financial year 2018-19 (April-March) stood at USD 9.21 billion and imports from Bangladesh for the same period stood at USD 1.22 billion.
Goyal, who is also India’s Railway Minister, assured Hasina that India stands committed to every request that Bangladesh has in railways sector because the connectivity that the expansion in railways will bring to both countries will boost trade and also give greater and smoother access to the North East region of India.
On this occasion two government-to-business (G2B) MoUs were signed between Start up Bangladesh and Tech Mahindra and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority and Adani Ports and SEZs.
Cumulative Foreign Direct Investment from India to Bangladesh has more than doubled from USD 243.91 million in 2014 to USD 570.11 million in December 2018 and Indian companies have invested in various sectors including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, FMCG and automobiles sectors in Bangladesh.
During Sheikh Hasina’s previous visit to New Delhi in April 2017, 13 agreements worth around USD 10 billion of Indian investment mainly in power and energy sectors in Bangladesh were signed.
India and Bangladesh have a trade agreement which is facilitative in nature. The two countries are members of various regional trade agreements including the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) and the Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) which govern the tariff regimes for trade. Under SAFTA, India has granted duty free quota free access to Bangladesh on all items except alcohol and tobacco.
Four Border Haats, two each in Tripura (Srinagar and Kamalasagar) and Meghalaya (Kalaichar and Balat), have been established for the benefit of communities living along the border areas of both the countries and 10 more Border Haats are under implementation.
Bangladesh is the biggest development partner of India today. India has extended three separate Lines of Credits (LOCs) to Bangladesh in the last eight years amounting to USD 8 billion.
In addition to LOCs, India has also been providing grant assistance to Bangladesh for various infrastructure projects such as Agartala- Akhaura rail link, dredging of inland waterways, India- Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline and high-impact community development projects in the areas of education, health, water, culture, urban development, disaster management and community welfare.