Bangladesh and India yesterday signed two separate agreements for setting up two border haats (markets) and allowing each other's trucks to move into their territories to carry goods right up to the warehouses.
In another decision, New Delhi has accepted Dhaka's request to lift the ban on cotton export for Bangladesh's readymade garment sector.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Bangladesh Commerce Minister Faruque Khan and his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma at the Indian Commerce Ministry office here yesterday afternoon to begin two border haats -- one in Sunamganj bordering the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya and the other in Kurigram.
The two countries have identified 13 items -- locally grown agricultural goods and locally manufactured finished products -- for trading at the border haats.
The trade at these haats would be carried out in Bangladeshi taka and Indian rupees and free of duty.
Sharma said the border haats would be operational by February next year and by that time other formalities would be completed.
The proposal of the border haats was part of the joint declaration signed by India and Bangladesh during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi in January this year.
The two countries also signed a separate MoU on Standard Operation Procedure under which trucks carrying goods from India and Bangladesh will be permitted to enter each other's territory up to 200 yards and carrying them right up to the nearest warehouses.
This will help overcome the problem of unloading and reloading of goods at the border and the delay often caused by crowding of trucks on either side of the border, officials of the two countries said.
Under the MoU, India would allow movement of trucks from Nepal into Bangladesh up to land customs stations in Bangladesh.
It was agreed that Bangladesh would supply 1.7 million pieces of garment to India free of duty from October to December this year, Anand Sharma told a joint press conference with Faruque Khan.
Bangladesh has already exhausted 70 percent of the 8 million pieces of garments to India in the first ten months of this year.
Sharma said steps would be taken for expeditious export of 300,000 tonnes of parboiled rice and 2,00,000 tonnes of wheat to Bangladesh, as per of agreement already reached between the two countries.
India's decision to allow resumption of cotton export to Bangladesh following the ban imposed by New Delhi in April is crucial for Bangladesh whose textile industry depends on the item. Besides, the cotton price has reached its all-time high of $1.19 a pound in international market this month.
Faruque Khan, who had a 40-minute one-to-one talks with Sharma before half-an-hour of delegation-level parleys, said, “We had very fruitful discussions, particularly the one-on-one discussions.”
He said he discussed with Sharma removal of quota and duty for more goods from Bangladesh and the Indian commerce minister “assured us that it is under active consideration of the Indian government”.
Bangladesh wants 61 more goods to be removed from India's list of sensitive goods for trading under the South Asian Free Trade Area. An overwhelming number of these goods are in garment sector.
Faruque Khan said, “whatever the little bottlenecks were there in enhancing India-Bangladesh trade have been removed” after his talks with Sharma.
“We consider India not only a neighbour but a brother,” he said.
According to Faruque, Sharma has accepted his invitation to visit Bangladesh and officials of the two countries will finalise the dates.
Sharma said Bangladesh has responded positively to India's request for allowing use of Chittagong and Mongla ports to help enhance bilateral trade and also use of Ashuganj as a port of call.
Sharma invited the Bangladeshi commerce minister to jointly inaugurate the border haat along the border with Meghalaya with the Meghalaya chief minister.
He said feasibility studies for two separate 1300MW power projects in Khulna and Chittagong to be set up by India would start soon and “we hope bulk power transmission between the two countries will commence by the year 2012”.
The Indian commerce minister said seven integrated check posts and eight land customs stations along the border with Bangladesh would be upgraded.
He said his “useful discussions” with Faruque Khan were “important considering the fact that Hasina's visit to India was historic and that it charted the roadmap for cooperation in areas like infrastructure, border infrastructure and power”.
Sharma added India and Bangladesh were in talks to build a bridge across Feni river to connect Sabroom in Tripura and Ramgarh in Bangladesh and emphasised integrating North Eastern Indian states with Bangladesh by encouraging investment flows and joint ventures.
Faruque Khan, who was leading a 21-member high-level delegation, wraps up his three-day official visit to India today.
Accompanied by Bangladesh trade and industry leaders, Faruque Khan had an interactive session with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He also addressed the Confederation of Indian Industry.