Indian commerce minister arrives Saturday

Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma arrives in Dhaka Saturday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to strengthen economic ties between the two neighbouring countries. "The Indian minister is coming Saturday and we want to engage in more trade with our neighbour," foreign minister Dipu Moni told bdnews24.com Wednesday. During his stay in Dhaka, Sharma will hold meetings with the prime minister and his counterpart, and attend a luncheon programme to be hosted by Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI). Anand will lead a 33-member delegation that includes two government secretaries and 21 high-profile businessmen. Bangladesh will seek duty-free access of 61 products to Indian market during the discussion with the Indian minister, said an official at the commerce ministry. Dhaka will also discuss removal of non-tariff and para-tariff barriers, often imposed by Indian customs authorities on Bangladeshi products, he added. At present, Bangladesh enjoys duty-free access of only 8.0 million pieces of readymade garments (RMG) products each year under a bilateral trade arrangement between the two countries. Dhaka has long been pursuing India to allow 61 Bangladeshi items in her market under duty-free facility. According to official figure, the two-way trade balance was $968.71 million, in favour of India, in the fiscal 2001-02, when Bangladesh exported goods worth $50.19 million to India, against the import of $1.01 billion. The gap crossed $3.0 billion mark in the fiscal 2009-10.