BD for reviving transshipment treaty with India
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Bangladesh is in favour of reviving a 1999 treaty that allowed transshipment of goods through India.
“Connectivity is the biggest issue in South Asia and we will work towards improving it. We would like to ship our goods to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka through India just as we do to Bhutan and Nepal” new Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said in an interview with an Indian national daily, according to a news agency.
“At the same time, we are in favour of transshipment of goods through Bangladesh. In my earlier stint in 1999, we had agreed on this,” he said.
The country is looking at establishing regional connectivity to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka through India.
In 1999, Bangladesh had agreed to allow Indian goods to be trans-shipped through its territory. This meant Bangla truckers would carry Indian goods from mainland India to the latter’s northeastern states through Bangladesh for a fee.
“Bangladesh is the world’s biggest exporter of readymade garments, selling some $30 billion to the world. India is one of the biggest markets for garments, but we export goods worth just about $500 million to our nearest neighbour. I would like to change that,” said Ahmed.