Bangladesh needs Asean cooperation for more trade
Bangladesh should establish warm relationships with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to boost trade and investment with them, which would also benefit the north-eastern region of India, according to an expert.
If Bangladesh uses Indian ports to increase trade with Asean countries, both nations would benefit, said Prabir De, a professor of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a New Delhi-based autonomous policy research institute.
De also said Bangladesh should follow India's Look East Policy for boosting relations with Asean countries.
He went on to say there is a disparity between central India and its north-eastern states that should be removed.
De was speaking at a dialogue on "Bangladesh-India Relations: Outlook 2023 and Beyond Building on Connectivity and Capacity Building for Prosperous BIMSTEC Region".
The South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem), Asian Confluence and South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance jointly organised the dialogue at North South University in Dhaka yesterday.
Various businessmen, academicians, experts and former diplomats participated in the event, which was moderated by Selim Raihan, executive director of Sanem.
Farooq Sobhan, a distinguished fellow and board member of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, said a new platform comprising Bangladesh, India and Asean members needs to be established for increasing more connectivity.
Also, there is a lot of scope for more investment and trade through this platform, he added.
Sobhan went on to say that increasing connectivity among nations in the region depends on how China behaves as the regional trade bloc among Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar is dead now.
He then raised the question on how the connectivity will realistically take place among nations of the region without solving the repatriation of 1.1 million Rohingyas to Myanmar.
The former ambassador also said economic cooperation and bilateral relations cannot be confined only among government officials as it is needs to include other people, such as university students.
Bangladesh should open a cultural centre in the north-eastern region of India to promote its achievements in the area, he added.
Md Saiful Islam, president of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said much more activities were conducted under the South Asian Association Regional Cooperation in the past.
In the river transit route between Bangladesh and India, some 98 per cent of Indian vessels are taking the opportunity of transit.
"We have to complement each other for a healthy relationship between Bangladesh and India," Islam added.
He then said the balance of trade between Bangladesh and India is heavily tilted towards the latter and last year, the gap stood at $14 billion with Bangladesh's export to India reaching $2 billion.
Bangladesh has a chance to export $4 billion worth of goods to India soon if the non-tariff barriers are effectively removed.
For instance, when the shipment of jute goods to India from Bangladesh started growing, the Indian government imposed an anti-dumping duty despite requests by Bangladesh's government, he added.
Imtiaz Ahmed, a professor of the department of international relations at the University of Dhaka, suggested establishing a new connectivity between Dhaka and Delhi by setting up high-speed rail connectivity.
Amena Mohsin, a professor of the same department, said if the visa regime is not relaxed by India, then people-to-people connectivity between the two countries will be difficult.
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