India keen to strengthen mutual partnership in Bangladesh’s economic development drive
Indian High Commissioner said India will act as a compliment, not a competitor, in development, which will benefit both countries economically
India is keen to strengthen its partnership in Bangladesh's economic development drive on a priority basis, said Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami on Thursday.
He observed that there is an opportunity for Bangladesh to harness the long experience of Indian entrepreneurs in automobile, light engineering, agricultural machinery and Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients (API) industries and take forward the ongoing trend of the country's industrialisation.
The Indian envoy expressed his interest during a meeting with industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun at the industries ministry on Thursday.
He said India will act as a compliment, not a competitor, in the development of these sectors, which will benefit both countries economically.
Bilateral trade and commerce, increase in exports of Bangladeshi products to India, expansion of land port-centric trade, easy solution to the existing problems in the field of export, mutual recognition of product quality certificates and other issues were discussed during the meeting.
During the meeting, Doraiswami lauded Bangladesh's recent economic growth and development activities.
He said India is keen on working with Bangladesh based on Greater Economic Partnership. In case of entry of foreign goods into the Indian market, it is mandatory to obtain a standard certificate from some accredited laboratories under the prevailing laws of that country.
By adopting this certificate, food and non-food items of Bangladesh can be easily exported to the Indian market.
To this end, he suggested strengthening the linkage of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution with the relevant quality institutions in India. At the same time, India would assist in launching mobile testing laboratory services for quality testing of products within Bangladesh, he added.
Referring to the long-standing good relations with India, industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said Bangladesh's relation with the friendly country India is very much like allied by blood.
He gratefully recalled the great sacrifices and support of the people of India in the War of Liberation of Bangladesh.
Humayun noted that the two countries are working together on various regional and international issues to advance the mutual development journey.
The minister further said the friendly relation between the two countries could be further deepened through the growth of bilateral trade and business. The present government is working diligently to increase trade with India. If the scope of trade increases, the existing problems related to export will be solved easily. There is an opportunity to use India's experience in the development of emerging industries in Bangladesh.
He described the Indian High Commissioner's interest in exchanging experiences and complementing each other in the automobile, light engineering, agricultural machinery and API industries in Bangladesh as very positive. To this end, he suggested identifying areas of assistance through dialogue and exchange of views between experts from both countries.
Begum Parag, additional secretary to the Ministry of Industries, and officials from the ministry and the Indian High Commission were present on the occasion.