Bhutan-Bangladesh-India corridor to boost trade among 3 countries
Siliguri in northern West Bengal has a natural advantage for accelerating trade with neighbouring countries, namely Bangladesh and Bhutan.
KOLKATA: Businessmen from the region want to promote the development of a Bhutan-Siliguri-Bangladesh corridor to boost trade among the neighbouring nations.
Siliguri in northern West Bengal has a natural advantage for accelerating trade with neighbouring countries, namely Bangladesh and Bhutan. In view of this, businessmen from the area are pushing for the development of a Bhutan-Siliguri-Bangladesh corridor for accelerating trade among the nations.
The Businessmen from the region at a recently concluded Bimstec business conclave in Kolkata told news agency PTI that improving road connectivity in the Northern part of West Bengal, which links the three countries – Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal, will help in the improvement of trade volume and also generate employment in the region.
The Chief of Pristine Hindustan Infraprojects Projects Private Limited, Aviral Jain explained why North Bengal is the real place to invest and stated that Siliguri’s rail network can be used by all the countries to send consignments.
Jain also highlighted that Dabgram is strategically located to serve a huge catchment area of North Bengal, Sikkim, North Bihar, and Northeast. It is the first rail-linked dry port in the North Bengal region and also caters to transit shipments for Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, he added.
“ICD Dabgram provides a new gateway to the land-locked countries of Bhutan and Nepal. It can also serve North Bangladesh for which ICD Dabgram will be the nearest rail head and dry port much nearer to Dhaka or Chittagong,” Jain added.
The managing director of Shams Group of Companies in Bangladesh, Rabiul Alam, while speaking to PTI revealed that Bangladesh is geographically connected with the Northeastern states of India and river routes between the nations should be developed for better trade relations.
Alam also highlighted that in the current situation, the cargo ships go empty from Bangladesh and return loaded from India, and termed this as “a massive trade imbalance”. “We need to revive the river routes as it will benefit all,” he urged.
Meanwhile, Managing Director of Sunrise Export of Bhutan, Gopal Waiba Lama, also explained his country’s side and said that the nation is completely dependent on road transport which is not enough to handle the trade, adding that, Bhuta needs waterways to be developed as the nation has two important rivers that can be used for ferrying goods between the two nations.
Lama said the water port at Lhamoizingkha in Bhutan’s southern region would be greatly beneficial for trade and commerce, and added that the Eastern Waterways Grid has the potential to revive the economies of Bhutan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. PTI
