India should remove all trade barriers

DHAKA: Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed on Saturday said India should look at removing all trade barriers to help increase exports by the neighbouring country.

“I have just met the Indian Commerce Secretary S R Rao and Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose. I have urged them to remove all tariff and non-tariff barriers on Bangladeshi exports,” Mahbub Ahmed said.

Although India had granted duty-free access for Bangladeshi goods into the country, exports had not risen to expected levels because of various barriers.

While the two-way trade volume between India and Bangladesh stood at US$ 5 billion, the latter’s exports was only at US$ 563 million.

“Indian investors should also go to Bangladesh to set up units and export to advanced countries, taking advantage of the duty-free and quota-free access,” Ahmed said at an interaction organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata.

Regarding Hilsa fish exports to India, he said there was no ban as such.

“There is a ban on export of white frozen fish and Hilsa automatically falls in this category,” he said.

India is a big market for items like ready-made garments, leather products and jute, he said.