Piyush Goyal pitches for stronger economic cooperation between India and Bangladesh

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday called for enhanced economic ties between India and Bangladesh as the two countries share a strong historical relationship.

Speaking at a virtual meet of India-Bangladesh stakeholders, organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce, he suggested four focus areas, including trade, connectivity, where both the countries can work together.

Mentioning that the supply chain between India and Bangladesh did not get interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said the two countries should ensure that the process of delivery of goods remains steady, which is the need of the hour.

Mr. Goyal also emphasised on cooperation in the defence sector between the two countries.

India has already offered a line of credit in the defence sector to Bangladesh, he said.

According to him, the potential areas of investment between the two countries are textiles, leather, jute products, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), agriculture, renewable energy and electronics, among others.

The minister said both India and Bangladesh can be the pharmacy of the world.

They can look at production of vaccines and other medicines jointly, he stated.

Mr. Goyal had in November last year said Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia with a volume of over USD 10 billion of trade.

Indo-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce president Abdul Matlub Ahmad said the capacity of handling export-import cargo at land ports in Petrapole in India and Benapole in the neighbouring country will be tripled by adding more lanes on either side.