Steps on to boost bilateral trade with Bangladesh: Ramesh

Agartala, Mar 18 (UNI) With a view to give filip to bilateral trade with Bangladesh, the Centre has taken several steps in the past few months, said Union Minister for Industries and Commerce Jairam Ramesh.

Talking to reporters at the first ever single country fair, organised by the Bangladesh government here, he yesterday said Indian exports to Bangladesh stood at 1.7 billion dollars in 2005-2006 while India's import from Bangladesh stood at 1.50 million dollars during the period.

The trade fair would help Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to showcase their products, he said adding the government was trying to remove the bottlenecks to encourage the traders of the neighboring country.

India had offered eight million garments amounting to 60 million dollars to be imported duty free, Mr Ramesh informed and said the Centre had already offered a 150 million dollars proposal to improve the rail connectivity between the two countries.

Besides, the Bangladesh Road Organisation (BRO) had taken up a construction project for setting up a bridge at Raghnacherra, while the HBEL had been entrusted with commissioning a 240 MW power project in Bangladesh, he said.

Asked about the status of the demand for direct bus service between Agartala-Kolkata via Dhaka, Mr Ramesh said this issue had already been discussed in the bilateral meeting.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said if the economic ties between Bangladesh and India improve, the North eastern region would also be benefited, He said Bangladesh would get a lion's share in the profits if the country offers transit facilities for the region.

UNI