CUTS International organizes press meet on Tripura-Bangladesh trade

Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International, India, has organized a press meet in association with the Tripura Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Agartala.

The press meet on Tripura-Bangladesh trade took place on Wednesday.

CUTS International is a premier rights-based organization and a policy think and action tank, based in India with six overseas offices.

CUTS International Director, Bratindra Bhattacharya, said: ““Bilateral trade flows between India and Bangladesh, which is a bit more than USD 6 billion, can be quadrupled if proper infrastructure is put in place. It would also be possible upon the removal of non tariff barriers as well as many other trade obstacles.”

“We need to lay special focus on promoting trade in agricultural products by way of identifying the comparative advantages of each country, and measures need to be taken, to facilitate imports of potatoes from Bangladesh whenever there is a need,” added Bratindra Bhattacharya.

Bratindra Bhattacharya also spoke about a CUTS International study on “Creating and Enabling an Inclusive Policy and Political Economy Discourse for Trade, Transport, and Transit Facilitation in and among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN),” sponsored by the United States Department of Commerce.

The study has been carried out in keeping with the opportunities arising out of the BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA), which was signed by the transport ministers of these four countries in Bhutan, on 2015.

The MVA is likely to provide the much-needed boost to the Tripura-Bangladesh trade. The agreement is expected to reduce the costs being incurred at present by way of shortening distances between Agartala, Chittagong, Kolkata, and Siliguri.

President of the Tripura Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Moti Lal Debnath, attended the press conference, among others.