Bangladesh and Bhutan have agreed in principle to sign a water transit protocol to further boost the trade ties between the two friendly nations in South Asia. The decision came on the concluding day of a two-day commerce secretary-level meeting at Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute in Dhaka on Wednesday. Officials of the two countries discussed the issue of expanding duty-and quota-free access for their products. “Bangladeshi cargoes will go to Bhutan and Bhutanese cargoes will enter Bangladesh waters,” Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told a post-meeting press briefing at his office. He said that the ministries concerned would now further advance the process. Commerce Secretary Hedayet Ullah Al Mamun led the Bangladesh delegation to the meeting, while his Bhutanese counterpart Dasho Yeshi Wangdi headed a 10-member delegation. Bangladesh sought duty-free access for mango and litchi juice in addition to its 90 products now being exported to Bhutan. Bhutan sought duty-free access for 15 more products apart from 18 products now enjoying the facility, said Monoj Kumar Roy, additional secretary of the commerce ministry. Tofail said the issue of duty-free access will be considered later and Bangladesh would import bolder and stones from Bhutan which will be used for infrastructural projects like Padma Bridge. In addition to, road transit, power imports from Bhutan, trade facility issues like easing standardisation hurdles, establishing more link between trade bodies and introduction of multimodal business visa, among others, were discussed at the meeting. Following the meeting, Sonam P Wangdi, joint secretary of Bhutanese Economic Affairs Ministry, said the discussions were fruitful and the relations and trade ties between the two countries reached a higher altitude with increased trade relations. Asked about any progress in power import from Bhutan, Monoj Kumar Roy said they proposed to import hydropower from Bhutan, even through joint investment for power generation. But officials of Bhutan said they were ready to export power to Bangladesh, but it would require a discussion in the regional forum involving India as the two countries do not share border. Local officials said power import issue will be discussed with India later to remove the import hurdles. Bangladesh exports products like readymade garments, pharmaceuticals, melamine, toilet soap, dry food, fruit juice and mineral water to Bhutan, while Bhutan exports products such as fresh fruits, paper and paper boards, crushed stones, coffee and spices to Bangladesh. Bangladesh exported goods of $1.91 million to landlocked Bhutan in 2013-2014 fiscal year, against its imports of $22.50 million during the period.
