Business opportunities for Bangladesh

A new economic door is going to open for Bangladesh in the backward Northeast region of India. The Indian government has taken lot of initiatives for development of this region. The region is a storehouse of natural resources. Of late, the Indian central government has been paying attention to its development. Their "look east" policy would help reinvigorate the economics of this region which is emerging as a big market for Bangladesh. Bangladeshi business leaders and Northeast policy makers have exchanged their views for developing business facilities in this part of India. Bangladeshi garments items now enjoy duty-free market accesses to India while Dhaka is trying to expand the list. Export to India has already hit US$ 700 million last year while Indian export stands of US$ 4.5 billion. Bangladesh business houses are setting up production houses in India. Nitol group and Pran have already set up their business houses. Nitol group produces tyre and Pran produces varieties of daily necessities and food items. Various business opportunities are waiting for Bangladesh. These are: Agro business, infrastructure, textile and garments, jewellery, technology transfer, and services like IT, health care, tourism, education and entertainment etc. But the greatest opportunity for Bangladesh business lies in Northeast India.     
Lutfar Rahman
Department of History
Jahangirnagar University  
Lutfar_hist@yahoo.com