Delhi may okay import of 8m RMG pieces from Bangladesh

The Indian government is expected to approve the importation of up to eight million pieces of apparel from Bangladesh at its next cabinet meeting, the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty said yesterday.
However the diplomat said the Bangladeshi government needed to be more serious in its attempts to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, a move that would help narrow the trade gap between the two countries,.
Chakravarty made his comments at the Ficci's (Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry) regular monthly luncheon meeting at a city hotel as the guest of honour.
He said although this import from Bangladesh was scheduled earlier, there had been bureaucratic delays.
India is ready to sign an FTA with Bangladesh in view of the positive outcome of a Delhi-Colombo FTA, the envoy said, adding that 'a sense of mistrust' still remains an obstacle to inking such a pact between Bangladesh and India.
He lamented that there had been no progress after the latest negotiations on FTA between the two countries in 2002.
Chaired by Ficci's newly elected President Waliur Rahman Bhuiyan, also the managing director of Bangladesh Oxygen Company, the monthly meeting was attended among others by foreign business personalities, CEOs of multi-national companies operating in Bangladesh and different chamber body leaders.
Brushing aside a wrong concept about the usage of Indian land as a transit route by Bangladesh and Nepal, the Indian envoy told the audience in the Ficci meeting, “Both Bangladesh and Nepal are now enjoying such a facility.”
On the Indo-Bangla widening trade gap, Chakravarty stressed the need for re-opening of the closed land ports on Bangladesh side in order to accelerate trade activities between the two countries.
He said the two-way trade has been growing fast and has crossed US$2.5 billion this year against $2.1 billion the previous year, marking around 21 percent growth.
India is presently Bangladesh's largest export destination in the developing world, with exports worth over $290 million in FY 2006-07.
Chakravarty said Bangladesh's exports to India grew more than 480 percent to reach $290 million in FY 2006-07 from $62 million in FY 2000-01, while its global exports grew by only 104 percent in the 5-year period.
He suggested that both Bangladesh and India should move forward with proposals for improving road, rail, air, shipping and inland water links.
"Mizoram has a 318 km long border with Bangladesh without any trade opening. We have been requesting Bangladesh for opening the Demagiri-Thegamikh as well as Sabroom-Ramgarh routes for some time," Chakravarty said.
He hoped that construction of Agartala-Akhaura rail link and access to New Mooring Terminal at Chittagong Port would be useful in providing additional capacity for transportation of goods and linking Chittagong with the north-eastern states of India.
Replying to a query regarding investment by Indian industrial giant TATA in Bangladesh, he said he was not officially informed of the latest situation.