Bangladesh-India commerce secretary level meeting on March 4

The Commerce Secretary level meeting Bangladesh and India will be held on March 4 in New Delhi which is expected to discuss a wide range of issues like expansion of bilateral trade. The meeting is also expected to discuss on how to boost cooperation in removing non-tariff barriers alongside forging strong economic cooperation.

Senior Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Tapan Kanti Ghosh will led the Bangladesh delegation while Indian Commerce Secretary B. V. R. Subrahmanyam will led the Indian delegation. Prior to the secretary-level meeting, the joint working group meeting between the representatives of the two countries will be held on March 2 and 3.

Talking to media, Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said that in this edition of meeting, Bangladesh would mainly focus on expanding the bilateral trade, especially to removing the non-tariff barriers.

He said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, goods and raw materials were imported from India by train, but after offloading those, the empty containers went back to India where there is a scope for exporting goods from Bangladesh.

"But for this, there is a need for taking approval from the Indian authority," Tapan said adding that Bangladesh would make proposal so that export operations could be made through these empty containers.

Besides, he said demands would be raised so that Bangladesh could enjoy duty free access of products in Indian market after LDC graduation. Officials said India wants to assist Bangladesh in setting up a container handling center in Sirajganj from where it would be possible to ensure smooth container handling management.