Indian High Commissioner, Harsh Vardhan Shringla revealed the high potential of cross-border trade between India and Bangladesh in sectors such as agriculture, horticulture and food processing at a buyers and sellers meet in Dhaka recently.
According to Shringla, Bangladesh can import agricultural and horticultural products from India for their extensive use in the food processing industry. Moreover, other investment opportunities for Bangladesh also lie in exporting finished goods to the Indian market, particularly in Northeastern part. During his speech, he talked about the successful ventures of Pran Group from Bangladesh in the Northeastern state of Tripura as an example of profitable cross-border cooperation.
The event regarding agricultural, horticultural and food processing industries was arranged by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in association together with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry, FBCCI, and the India- Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry. During the event over 250 Bangladesh traders and enterprises got the chance to interact with participants from the related industries which included 50 traders and companies from various parts of India.
The test certificates issued by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution for 21 food items have also started receiving much acceptance from the Indian Authorities.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her visit to India in April, signed 13 agreements which would bring around $10 billion Indian investment for Bangladesh in sectors such as power, energy, logistics, medical and education.
Shringla further mentioned that another good example of such cross-border cooperation is the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border where limestone is imported by Lafarge Surma Cement from Meghalaya.
