POBNEWS24, Dhaka Aug 18, 2026 : India’s top business body, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has proposed the formation of a B2B task force on infrastructure investment and financing and technology to further strengthen Bangladesh-India investment and trade relations.
A business delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) met with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) afternoon. Later, CII Director General Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee made these remarks at a post-meeting press briefing at the FBCCI’s Motijheel office.
The leader of the delegation, Chandrajit Banerjee, said, “We discussed among ourselves how to further increase bilateral trade between the two countries. There is great potential for Bangladeshi products in various states of India, and we also discussed how to utilize that opportunity.” One of the objectives of our delegation’s visit is to strengthen B2B communication with the private sector in Bangladesh. I think we have been able to do that satisfactorily for both sides.
At that time, Mr. Binayak Chatterjee, a member of the delegation and founder and managing trustee of the Infravision Foundation of India, said, “Our first proposal is to form a task force on infrastructure investment and financing. The second proposal is to increase B2B partnership on technological “sunrise sectors”.
Binayak Chatterjee said that the current generation of young entrepreneurs is more interested in investing in new and promising sectors instead of traditional sectors. He basically calls 8 such emerging sectors as sunrise sectors. Which include – nuclear power, semiconductor industry, hydrogen and ammonia, renewable energy and batteries, storage, high-speed rail communication, data center, artificial intelligence, solar cell and module manufacturing industry, etc.
FBCCI Administrator Md. Fazlul Haque said, “We believe that the proposals made by the CII delegation can be used to create opportunities for further expansion of investment and trade between the two countries.” In addition to the above-mentioned proposals, we also had positive discussions on removing existing non-tariff barriers in Bangladesh-India bilateral trade.
The FBCCI Administrator further said, “The main goal of both sides is to move forward investment and trade by businessmen of both countries, leaving aside political issues.” He said that Bangladesh has a trade deficit of about $10 billion with India. He called on businessmen and entrepreneurs of both countries to work together to reduce this existing trade deficit.
In a meeting held between FBCCI and CII before the joint press briefing, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and former President of FBCCI Abdul Awal Mintoo highlighted the sincere efforts of the Bangladesh government to expand bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India and increase investment in new sectors.
Abdul Awal Mintoo felt that it is important to find solutions to the problems with the businessmen and stakeholders of both sides to remove the existing obstacles in trade and commerce between the two countries. He further said that the government mainly sets the policies. However, it is the businessmen who know the real problems of trade and commerce best. Therefore, the government can take necessary steps if it receives specific proposals through joint discussions between top organizations like FBCCI and CII.
The meeting was attended by former FBCCI Presidents Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Mir Nasir Hossain, Md. Jasim Uddin, DCCI President Taskin Ahmed, DCCI Former President Rizwan Rahman, BTMA President Shawkat Aziz Russell, Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Emdadul Hossain, Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Md. Hossain Ali, Barisal Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ebayedul Haque Chand, FBCCI Former Vice President Nizam Uddin Rajesh, FBCCI Former Directors Abdul Haque and Abdul Wahed, India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mashiur Rahman, Bangladesh Motorcycle Assemblers and Manufacturers Association President Matiur Rahman, Runner Group Director Mohammad Ali Deen, FBCCI Secretary General Md. Alamgir, various Chamber and association leaders.
It is worth mentioning that the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Director General Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee has led a business delegation of CII to Bangladesh for a two-day visit. The delegation includes Mr. Vinayak Chatterjee, Founder and Managing Trustee of Infravision Foundation of India, Mr. Rakesh Swamy, Group President of Godrej Industries, Dr. Param Shah, CEO of Arvind Limited, Mr. Rajesh Gupta, Regional Head of Mahindra Group, Mr. P. J. Rajesh, Chief Operating Officer of LMW Global, Mr. Krishna Khatwani, South Asia Head of Godrej Consumer Products, Mr. Chaitanya Kagalkar, CEO of Mahindra Bangladesh, Mr. Chaitanya Kagalkar, Bangladesh Country Director of technology company Lancer & Toubro, Mr. Subrata Dutta Gupta, Head of International Operations of Forbes Marshall. Deepak Sharma, Chief General Manager of Numligarh Refinery Limited Shri Jyoti Bhushan Sharma, CEO of Beximco IOC Petroleum Limited Mr. Devaraj Dutta, Head of International Marketing Department of Apollo Hospitals Mr. M. S. Guru Prasad and others.
