Newly appointed Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das expressed her wonder with Bangladesh’s rapid progress during her meeting with Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi at his office on Monday during a courtesy call.
The high commissioner said that she first served in Bangladesh in 1998. Since then, she has spent four years in Bangladesh in different capacities, but the country has remarkably changed since then. The progress is astounding.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said Bangladesh would take initiatives to increase export of readymade garment (RMG) to Indian market.
He said: “India wants Bangladeshi RMG in its market, but there are some problems, and once we identify them, we will take appropriate measures to resolve them.”
The minister referred to India as a big market, and stressed the high demand of Bangladeshi RMG in India which has prompted Bangladesh’s attempts to increase apparel exports to the neighbour.
The commerce minister also discussed the India-Bangladesh Border Haat, highlighting the excellent reception from citizens of both countries who benefit from the system.
He said: “The four border haats are very popular, and we are working to set up six more.”
In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh exported different products worth $873.27 million to India and import $8619.40 million, reports BSS.
Tipu Munshi said that over 100 Special Economic Zones are being set up around the country, and India has already pledged to investigate in two massive Economic Zones in Mirsarai and Mongla. He hinted at changing future trends in the trade between Bangladesh and India.
Mentioning that Bangladesh and India have huge scopes to expand bilateral trade, Riva Ganguly laid emphasis on utilizing the potentialities.
“Existing barriers to trade between our countries will be solved through discussion,” she said referring to good demand of many Bangladeshi products in Indian market.
The high commissioner also said necessary measures would be taken to ease business between the two neighbouring countries.
Additional Secretary SM Rejwan Hossain and Additional Secretary Md Shafiqul Islam were also present during the meeting.
