The International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (ICCB) highlighted the remarkable growth potential for Bangladesh’s exports to India by reducing trade barriers. According to their observation in the quarterly news bulletin (April-June 2023 issue), it underlined if Bangladesh could capture just one per cent of India’s total imports, its export to India could increase by an astounding 300 per cent even as despite this potential, the bilateral trade volume between India and Bangladesh stood at only US $ 11 billion in FY ’22, with Bangladesh’s exports to India amounting to a mere US $ 1.27 billion. Estimates by the World Bank indicate that implementing a free trade agreement between the two countries could lead to a 182 per cent increase in Bangladesh’s exports to India while additionally, by improving transport connectivity, this growth potential could surge even higher, resulting in a remarkable 297 per cent increase in Bangladesh’s exports to India. ICCB also brought attention to the fact that South Asia remains one of the least integrated regions in terms of trade and people-to-people contact even if the World Bank underscored the significant gains that regional cooperation could bring to all countries in South Asia. Presently, intra-regional trade accounts for only one-fifth of its actual potential, indicating untapped opportunities for growth in regional trade.

Source: Economic Times July 25, 2023 18:58 UTC