FTA with Bangladesh can boost trade: World Bank

An FTA between the two nations would rise Bangladesh's exports to India by 182 per cent

December 18, 2012 10:32 pm | Updated October 18, 2016 02:18 pm IST - NEW DELHI

With India seeking to address the “brutal trade imbalance” with Bangladesh , a World Bank report released on Monday said a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries could push bilateral trade by over 100 per cent.

“An FTA between the two nations would increase Bangladesh's exports to India by 182 per cent and that of India's to Bangladesh by 126 per cent,” World Bank lead economist Sanjay Kathuria said, while releasing a report titled ‘Unlocking Bangladesh-India Trade’ at a CII function here.

During 2011-12, the two-way trade stood at $4.3 billion. Bangladesh has long complained that trade with India was unequal, with India selling goods worth over $3.5 billion to Bangladesh against the latter's export to India of about $0.6 billion.

Research and Information System for Developing Countries Fellow Prabir De said India's closer economic cooperation with Bangladesh can be an important steeping-stone to reduce the economic isolation of India's North-Eastern states. The agreement would also be beneficial for Bangladesh as more manufacturing activity would take place which would generate more employment opportunities.

In 2004, India and Bangladesh had exchanged documents for an FTA and negotiations were underway. However, talks were stalled over a few issues. India's exports to Bangladesh include cotton, cereals, nuclear reactors, boilers and machinery, while imports from the neighbouring country comprise edible fruit and nuts, fish, apparel and textiles articles. The study said to realise the potential of the pact, both the countries need to further liberalise trade, cut tariffs on India's exports to Bangladesh, reduce and remove non-tariff barriers and improve trade facilitation both at borders and inland.

To enable larger gains, Bangladesh and India cooperation should go beyond goods trade and include investment, services and technology transfer, it stated.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.