Bangladesh and India have $16b trade potential: Indian high commissioner

Bangladesh and India have $16 billion trade potential if Dhaka improves the ease of doing business and connectivity, Indian High Commissioner Vikram K Doraiswami said today.

"India has been giving duty free access to its market to all Bangladeshi products except for 25, including alcohol, to reduce the trade gap between the two neighbouring nations since 2011," he said.

Doraiswami made the comments at a seminar for business and economic journalists organised by the high commission in the city's Baridhara.

Bangladesh's export does not depend on any single product, rather it has diversified items in the list now like plastics, processed foods and leather, he said.

The bilateral trade is still in favour of India but the situation is improving every year as Bangladesh's export is rising, he said.

The high commissioner stressed the need for making transportation cheaper to be competitive in the international market.

India is Bangladesh's top export destination in Asia with the shipment of $1.27 billion worth of products in 2019-20 fiscal year whereas Japan stood second with $1.1 billion.