Bangladesh, India for fresh momentum in economic partnership: Muktadir

Highlights:

• Commerce minister for turning geographical proximity into economic gains
• Muktadir calls for removing trade barriers, restoring normal trade
• Long-term visas for regular travellers, including businesspeople and patients, urged
• CII proposes two joint task forces for infrastructure investment, high-tech sectors
• CII for boosting local manufacturing, cut imports
• Indian industries eyeing FMCG and tech investments

Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir has emphasised transforming geographical proximity into economic advantages to enhance trade, investment, and industrial cooperation between Bangladesh and India.

During a meeting with a delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at the Secretariat in Dhaka today (18 August), he stressed the need to remove trade barriers, simplify visas, and foster a long-term economic partnership to unlock mutual potential, according to a press release.

The meeting focused on bilateral trade and investment relations, existing challenges, and future avenues of cooperation. The CII delegation was led by its Director General Chandrajit Banerjee.

Muktadir noted that despite differences in size, population, and economic scale, the geographical realities of Bangladesh and India offer significant opportunities for mutual cooperation.

He highlighted specific potential for expanding trade, communication, and investment around Bangladesh's strategic location and India's north-eastern region.

Pointing out that intra-regional trade remains relatively low despite South Asia's large collective economy, he said that strengthening economic connectivity will create new opportunities for industrialisation, investment, and employment.

Addressing recent trade restrictions between the two nations, the minister stated that discussions are necessary to restore normal trading conditions. He expressed optimism that positive progress will be achieved in this regard within the next few months.

The meeting also addressed visa complexities faced by business professionals and citizens. Muktadir remarked that requiring regular visa applications every few months for frequent travellers for medical, business, and other essential purposes is impractical, and called for bilateral cooperation to establish a long-term visa system.

CII proposes joint task forces

During the meeting, the Confederation of Indian Industry delegation proposed forming two joint task forces to boost cooperation in Bangladesh's infrastructure and high-tech sectors, according to the press release.

One task force would focus on private investment and public-private partnerships in infrastructure, while the other would work on futuristic industries such as semiconductors, green hydrogen, battery storage, and data centres.

The CII shared that India recorded about Rs25 trillion in infrastructure investments last year, with a significant share coming from the private sector. They opined that Bangladesh has similar opportunities to attract domestic and foreign institutional investment by following India's experience.

Discussions also underscored the importance of harnessing local manufacturing capabilities. Indian business representatives noted that several local firms are weakening due to various challenges despite having adequate capacity.

Increasing domestic production would reduce import dependency and accelerate project implementation, they added.

Citing the joint venture with Energypac, the CII delegation pointed out that despite local production capabilities, many goods are still imported, and clearing goods through land ports takes 40 to 45 days. Reviving local industries would largely alleviate these issues.

Investment interests in FMCG, technology

The CII also expressed interest in investing in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, proposing the establishment of a state-of-the-art integrated manufacturing plant near Dhaka to produce items such as soaps, home care insecticides, and fragrances.

Additionally, they highlighted the need for an effective regulatory framework to control the quality of unregistered products.

Calls were also made to harmonise tariff structures for energy-efficient technologies in industries. CII representatives stated that adopting their steam-related technologies could save 10% to 35% of gas in the textile, readymade garment, and food processing industries - though tariff disparities currently hinder their adoption.

Furthermore, the CII proposed facilitating internship opportunities for Bangladeshi youth in Indian institutions and assisting in resolving visa complexities for Bangladeshi engineers to work in third countries.

Both sides emphasised leveraging formal discussions, business-level engagement, and institutional frameworks to make the Bangladesh-India economic relationship more effective and fruitful, read the release.