Dhaka: Indian high commissioner in Dhaka Pranay Verma on Tuesday said that improved and uninterrupted connectivity could increase export of Bangladeshi products to India by 300 per cent.
‘Studies indicate that seamless connectivity between India and Bangladesh has the potential to increase national income by 17 per cent in Bangladesh and 8 per cent in India,’ he said.
The Indian envoy was speaking at a seminar titled ‘Multimodal Connectivity between India and Bangladesh’ organised by Unnayan Shamannay at Bishwa Sahittya Kendra in the capital.
Pranay Verma said that India would like to get greater access to and from Bangladesh’s ports, inland waterways and road links to optimise the connectivity between the two neighbour countries.
He said that New Delhi had already offered Bangladesh number of options to use Indian ports, railways and airports to export goods to India and to the rest of the world.
‘Just as we look to improve our connectivity of our north-eastern states through Bangladesh, we are also encouraging transit facilities for Bangladesh to export its product to third countries through specified land custom stations, airports and seaports in India,’ he added.
As part of the plan, the high commissioner said that recently initiatives have been taken to make Kolkata and Delhi airports as transshipment hubs for export cargo from Bangladesh to other countries.
Verma also mentioned that a bilateral agreement have been done on the use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports whereby goods can be transported to India’s North-Eastern region from the rest of India and vice-versa through these two ports in Bangladesh.
‘It will reduce the cost of transportation to our northeastern estates,’ he added.
The envoy said that the geographical proximity of India and Bangladesh was the advantage and should be leveraged for mutual benefit.
Better connectivity is a need for ease of doing business and ease of living, both of which are key priorities for India, he added.
Unnayan Shamannay chairperson Atiur Rahman presented the keynote paper at the seminar.
Referring to World Bank research, Rahman, also former governor of Bangladesh bank, said that India’s trade with South Asian countries could more than triple from the present $19.1 billion per year to $62.4 billion per year, and Bangladesh’s trade with South Asian countries could more than double from the present $7.6 billion to $18.9 billion.
