AMIDST growing trade deficit with India, leaders of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) have pointed out that challenges at the regulatory and functional level of the India government are the biggest impediments to Bangladesh’s trade expansion with India. These impediments in the form of non-tariff barriers and procedural obstacles need to be removed to create the environment for easy market access of Bangladeshi products into Indian market. The trade issue with India came up for discussion in presence of Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla when he paid a visit to the Chamber on Monday.
Latest trade figure show Bangladesh’s export to India stood at $527 million in 2014-15 compared to India’s export to Bangladesh at $ 5,816 million. In fact pera tariff barriers such as countervailing duty and non-tariff or procedural handicaps are so strong that trade expansion from Bangladesh side is facing challenges at every step. But the question is that if Bangladesh can’t increase export, its repayment capacity for Indian goods and services may also come under strain and the one-way trade expansion may only look like unilateral capture of Bangladeshi market at one stage. So it is in India’s interest to help Bangladesh to increase its export to make more import from India.
Shringla has called for simplification of procedure of capital and staff salary from Bangladesh at a time when Indian investment is picking up here, besides many Indian workers and managerial persons are working to bring pressure on transfer of fund in capital account, in addition to trade account. We welcome Indian investment in the country, but we believe Bangladeshi investors should also get similar opportunity; which they can use more efficiently in some sectors to provide Indian market with cheaper goods. We hope such opportunity must open to make trade and investment more even handed. Shringla said India has simplified visa procedure and over 60,000 visas were issued alone during Eid vacation; which Bangladesh nationals used for Eid shopping in India.
The MCCI leaders emphasis on the occasion to remove non-tariff barriers include quality standards, certification and inspection requirements makes sense. Moreover they mentioned about improving poor physical infrastructure at the land border points, such as narrow roads, lack of sufficient warehouse space, long tailback of trucks and lack of coordination are important to encourage Bangladesh’s export.
We must say that by opening transit to India, Bangladesh has added a new dimension to Indian shipment of goods to northeast at a name-sake transit cost. But trade can’t grow without reciprocity and if India is not ready to pay standard transit fees and allow easy access of Bangladesh’s exports, the question is how bilateral trade can sustain beyond certain level.
We believe India will remove all these market barriers to our export.
