Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu on Thursday opined immense possibility is there to turn Bangladesh and India into a growth centre of Asia through reaping the trade and connectivity facilities existing between both the countries, reports BSS. “Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) would definitely offer greater stability and progress in economic activities between India and Bangladesh, especially at the border points,” he said. The minister was addressing while inaugurating the 3- day India INVESTRADE-2015 in city’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, organized by India- Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI). India Investrade-2015 Chairman Nayantara Palchaudhuri gave welcome speech while Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran spoke as the special guest. FBCCI Director Shafquat Haider, DCCI President Hossain Khaled and IBCCI President Mohammed Ali also spoke on the occasion. Mentioning physical connectivity and trade facilitation are the major challenges facing the region, the industries minister said “In this backdrop, India and Bangladesh can tap mutual comparative advantages in trade and connectivity, and can emerge as the growth center of Asia, building meaningful economic linkages between South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia.” Terming Bangladesh as a unique place for investment, Amu said, “We are giving more thrust on the establishment of knowledge based hi-tech industries. In order to materialize the dream of industrialized “Digital Bangladesh” by 2021 and a developed country by 2041 into reality, he said, “We’ve been pursuing a liberal investment and industrial policy for foreign investors with huge attractive incentive package.” The minister said Bangladeshis looking at Indian investment across multiple sectors like Power, Oil and Gas, IT and ITes, Healthcare, Financial Services, Higher Education, Energy and Electrical Equipment, Electronics and Industrial Machinery and Agribusiness etc. “Indian investments in Bangladesh, with the possibilities of re-export to India can help to diversify exports for Bangladesh which can help to bring down the trade gap,” he added. Indian High Commissioner said mutual trust in entrepreneurs’ level is needed to be strengthened to boost bilateral trade. “Stable and trustworthy relation among entrepreneurs would help to expedite the investment and industrialization process between both the countries,” he added. Pankaj Saran said Bangladesh could establish low cost economy through increasing trade with India. He put emphasis on export product diversity as well as quality improvement and productivity of Bangladesh to narrow the trade gap with India. A total of 60 stalls have been set up in the expo where equipment of power and industry is being displayed.
