POBNEWS24, Dhaka, 25 July 2022: Travel or communication to the seven northeastern states from mainland India is quite difficult. Except the air route, it takes a long way to travel there by land and sea routes.
That is why it is very expensive and difficult for Indian traders to bring goods from the mainland to the states known as the ‘Seven Sisters’.
On the other hand, Bangladesh is geographically very close to the seven states. This easy location has become a great opportunity for Bangladeshi businessmen.
Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal – the first three of these seven states or Seven Sisters already have a huge demand for Bangladeshi products. The demand for Bangladeshi products is gradually increasing in the remaining four states as well.
If this opportunity can be used, a big market for Bangladeshi products can be created in the Seven Sisters. Both the citizens of Bangladesh and the Indian seven states will be benefited from the expansion of bilateral trade.
Among the seven states that share direct border with Bangladesh are Tripura, Mizoram, Assam and Meghalaya. Among them, Bangladesh has ports with Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya. Basically, the products of Bangladesh enter North-East India through the border of the three states.
According to information of Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh in Guwahati, the trade of Bangladesh in the north-eastern region of India is gradually expanding. In the financial year 2019-20, the export of goods from Bangladesh to this region is more than Tk. 367 crore. In the previous fiscal year (2018-19), Bangladeshi products were exported there to the tune of Tk. 40 crore. On the contrary, in the fiscal year 2019-20, goods imported from Seven Sisters to Bangladesh amounted to Tk. 390 crore, in the previous fiscal year 2018-19, more than Tk. 472 crore of goods came from there.
It is known that Bangladeshi products are in demand in these states, including ready-made clothes, iron, cement, tin, hilsa, dry food, juice, chips, confectionery items, cotton, plastic footwear, sandals, plastic table, kitchen ware, jamdani saree, raw jute, mineral water, chanachur, sauce, motor dal, ice cream, emergency light, condensed milk etc.
On the other hand, coal, ginger, onion, dry chillis, poultry feed, eggs, cloth, sugar, auto parts, various fruits, engineering products, tubelight etc. are exported to Bangladesh from the north-eastern region of India.
Apart from this, cotton, tea, lime, petroleum products, iron, and various stones are produced in Assam. These also have a market in Bangladesh. Manipur produces oil, various seeds, mustard, paddy, wheat, limestone and chromate. Meghalaya also produces glass, porcelain, ore and Arunachal produces corn, wheat, mustard, pulses, apples, oranges, grapes, etc. These products are also in demand in Bangladesh.
Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Guwahati Dr. Shah Mohammad Tanveer Mansoor said there is a good demand for Bangladeshi products in Northeast India. This region is going to be a big market for the export of package food, cement, plastic and clothing products of Bangladesh in particular. Bangladeshi businessmen are being fully supported in this regard.
He said, we need to improve communication and port management to further expand bilateral trade between the two regions. Recently, a high level visit from Bangladesh to Assam has increased the confidence and trust among businessmen in this regard.
Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Vishwasharma also spoke about the immense potentials of bilateral trade.
He said, “I think there are a lot of potentials in the commercial field between Bangladesh and India’s North-East region. The north-eastern region is connected to the Indian mainland through Bangladesh. There is MoU for supply of diesel from Assam to Bangladesh. There is also an agreement to import goods from Bangladesh here. We are putting more emphasis on developing mutually beneficial economic relations”.
