Business Desk :
Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran on Monday stressed diverting the trade between Bangladesh and India from roads to waterways, railways and coastal ports, different agencies reported.
“We know we should decongest the Petrapole-Benapole trading post by diverting the trade to other LCSs (Land Customs Stations) and away from road to waterways, rail and ports,” he said.
“India will ease trade and visa regimes further to help accelerate bi-lateral trade and business with Bangladesh,” the Indian envoy said, while addressing a quarterly luncheon meeting of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) at MCCI Bhaban.
At the meeting, chaired by MCCI president Rokia Afzal Rahman, some leading businessmen raised a number of issues and sought the envoy’s attention to address those for strengthening of trade relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Among the issues were the non-tariff barriers that the country’s exporters had been facing for years while doing business with their Indian counterparts. Time consuming visa processing was also brought attention of the Indian diplomat seeking his remedial initiatives.
Some of the businessmen sought immediate steps to reduce the processing time for testing and export certification by the Indian authorities. Improving infrastructures at the land-ports of either sides of the boarder was another major demand of the business people.
Responding to them, Pankaj said his country would consider setting up of testing centres at frontiers so the processing time for standard certification could bring down to a comfortable point.
Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI) already got a number of accreditations from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB). Indian authorities, however, often stop BSTI certified products at the entry points for further testing, thus delaying Bangladesh export to that country.
When his attention was drawn to this matter, the envoy said setting up of testing centres at borders would address the issue.
“Work on development of Ashuganj Port is underway. We know we should modernise our LCSs and border infrastructures built to cater to traffic of the 50s, 60s and 70s,” said the Indian High Commissioner.
“We know we should start coastal shipping and have a long-term inland waterways usage plan. We know we should try to convert illegal trade into legal trade. Two border haats are operational in Meghalaya. More are under consideration on the Tripura and Meghalaya borders. We know we should step up our cooperation in the areas of energy security, food security, environment protection, and water management,” he added.
Pankaj also sounded optimistic about the investment of Indian businesses in Bangladesh.
He went on, “Several Indian giants are in Bangladesh such as Airtel, Tatas, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Dabur, Marico, Aditya Birla, Godrej and so on. This list is by no means exhaustive. Moreover, some important investments are in the pipeline.”
The Indian envoy stressed greater sub-regional cooperation, greater integration and greater connectivity in the coming days.
Pankaj also noted that the country is very much on the list of on-arrival visa in India and will be the first country to get it when the process kicks off.
He hoped that traveling to India from Bangladesh will become easier than before as the Indian High Commission in Dhaka has already been permitted to issue multiple entry visas for the next five years.
The Indian High Commissioner also recommended strengthening Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) so that its certification of export products is well-accepted in India.
