International Trade - #SectorUpdates
The potential for India’s export to SAARC countries is USD 61 billion as against USD 14 billion realized now. Needless to mention, Bangladesh is a prominent trade partner for India in the SAARC and 75 percent of India’s imports from Bangladesh and 50 percent of India’s exports to Bangladesh were through land ports. Thus, the Government of India has approved the upgradation of land custom stations in Sutarkandi (Assam) and Kawrpuichhuah (Mizoram) to facilitate North East India- Bangladesh cross border trade. NER being characterized by significant strengths– be it in terms of availability of resources or plays a significant role thanks to its geographical location, infrastructure strengths and comparative advantages. Increased connectivity through road and waterways could go a long way in creating commodity specific cross-border value chains between the NER and Bangladesh. For example, fresh fruits, vegetables and spices (viz. Apple, Kiwi, Orange, Lemon, Pineapple, Onion, Lemon Tomato, Turmeric, Ginger, Large Cardamom etc.) grown in NER would find markets and/or gets processed in Bangladesh. Similarly, movement of minerals, oil, other natural resources and industrial products would also find their way into Bangladesh in a more time and cost-efficient manner.