Abu Saazad :
The trade imbalance with the neighbouring India is mainly due to various non-tariff barriers and the diplomatic failure, said the economists and business leaders with the New Nation.
Country’s import from India was $ 5810 million in the last fiscal 2014-15 while the export was only $ 527 million. The annual trade gap of the last fiscal was $5283 million.
The country exported goods worth about $456 million to India and imported goods worth $6030 million in the fiscal 2013-14 and trade gap stood $5574 million, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).data.
Economist M Mamun-Ur-Rashid, ex-Prof of BRACK University, said the trade imbalance is mainly due to appreciation of the local currency against the Indian rupee and various non-tariff barriers (NTBs) including testing and certification and weak border infrastructure. Diplomatic failure is also one of the reasons for the huge trade deficit with the neighbouring country.
India emerged as one of the largest sources of raw materials for Bangladeshi manufacturing industries, which is the reason of high trade gap; contrarily Bangladeshi exports goods face various non-tariff barriers.
Even though Bangladeshi apparels enjoy duty-free access, it could not make any significant growth in export mainly because of the non-tariff barriers and government’s lack of initiative in negotiation with the counterpart on different trade-related issues, said the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) ex-Vice-President Md Helal Uddin.
Business leaders and experts are continuously demanding end of the non-tariff barriers to reduce the trade gap between the two next-door neighbours, he also said.
The FBCCI leader urged the government to take the proper initiative with the Indian government to remove the trade barriers for reduction of trade deficit.
“Actually, the importers have no option but to import goods produced by that country. So we have to try to increase the export volume to India to decrease the trade deficit”, he said.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman underscored the need for a comprehensive trade agreement between Bangladesh and India to resolve the issue.
‘It is a natural phenomenon that Bangladesh usually faces a deficit with the neighbouring country considering the volume of its economy but the size of the deficit has been increasing continuously which is not acceptable’, said the CPD executive.
Diversification of export products is necessary that can increase the export volume and reduce the trade gap with India, Mustafizur also said.
The trade imbalance with the neighbouring India is mainly due to various non-tariff barriers and the diplomatic failure, said the economists and business leaders with the New Nation.
Country’s import from India was $ 5810 million in the last fiscal 2014-15 while the export was only $ 527 million. The annual trade gap of the last fiscal was $5283 million.
The country exported goods worth about $456 million to India and imported goods worth $6030 million in the fiscal 2013-14 and trade gap stood $5574 million, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).data.
Economist M Mamun-Ur-Rashid, ex-Prof of BRACK University, said the trade imbalance is mainly due to appreciation of the local currency against the Indian rupee and various non-tariff barriers (NTBs) including testing and certification and weak border infrastructure. Diplomatic failure is also one of the reasons for the huge trade deficit with the neighbouring country.
India emerged as one of the largest sources of raw materials for Bangladeshi manufacturing industries, which is the reason of high trade gap; contrarily Bangladeshi exports goods face various non-tariff barriers.
Even though Bangladeshi apparels enjoy duty-free access, it could not make any significant growth in export mainly because of the non-tariff barriers and government’s lack of initiative in negotiation with the counterpart on different trade-related issues, said the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) ex-Vice-President Md Helal Uddin.
Business leaders and experts are continuously demanding end of the non-tariff barriers to reduce the trade gap between the two next-door neighbours, he also said.
The FBCCI leader urged the government to take the proper initiative with the Indian government to remove the trade barriers for reduction of trade deficit.
“Actually, the importers have no option but to import goods produced by that country. So we have to try to increase the export volume to India to decrease the trade deficit”, he said.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman underscored the need for a comprehensive trade agreement between Bangladesh and India to resolve the issue.
‘It is a natural phenomenon that Bangladesh usually faces a deficit with the neighbouring country considering the volume of its economy but the size of the deficit has been increasing continuously which is not acceptable’, said the CPD executive.
Diversification of export products is necessary that can increase the export volume and reduce the trade gap with India, Mustafizur also said.
