FE Report

A high-powered trade delegation from Bangladesh will meet Indian officials in Delhi today (Thursday) to discuss bilateral issues and ways to minimise the trade gap between the two countries by addressing some crucial issues that are affecting both the countries' businesses, officials said Wednesday.

The seven-member team titled 'joint working group on trade' will hold three-day meeting with their counterparts in India to resolve border problems, check smuggling, simplify visa system and expedite customs clearance in ports.

Ruhul Amin Sarker, joint secretary of commerce ministry, will lead the team. Other members of the team include senior officials of Tariff Commission, foreign ministry, National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) and commercial counsellor of Bangladesh High Commission to India.

The team will discuss a number of pending issues that the neighbouring country had earlier agreed to address.

Main agenda on strengthening trade are maintaining proper border timing, allowing entrance of trucks through Bibirbazar and establishing a central testing laboratory for some landports in India.

The trade team will follow up the issue on opening Jibannagar-Daulatganj landport in India as Bangladesh cannot use this port since opening due to non-cooperation of the Indian side.

"Bangladesh has been maintaining the border-timing properly for import of products through the landport but it was found that most of the time the Indian border remained closed," an official said.

In the last meeting, the Indian officials assured the Bangladeshi delegation of addressing those issues on an urgent basis.

Poor infrastructure in the landport is a major barrier to carrying out business through it, he said.

Currently, only 31 out of Bangladesh's 179 LC stations are operative.

Of them, five LC stations -- Benapole, Banglabandha, Sonamasjid, Hili and Bibir Bazar -- have modern infrastructural facilities like warehouse, sheds, truck loading and unloading facilities, parking yards etc.

Importers complained about the inadequate port facility, especially in India's part which troubled them at the time of trading.

Importers said Gojadanga, Petrapole, Mahadipur, Hili and Phulbari are the major LC stations of India through which Bangladeshi traders import goods.

They said none of the LC stations have adequate infrastructure, warehouse facility and transshipment yards, which are the basic needs of bilateral trade through landports.

The volume of trade between Bangladesh and India is $2.09 billion. Trade gap between Bangladesh and India was US$3.0 billion in 2007-08.