Tripura Beckons Bangladesh

[eastwatch]

Tripura beckons Bangladesh

Sunday, November 28, 2010
Tripura beckons Bangladesh
Chief minister tells The Daily Star of business prospect
Rezaul Karim

Bangladesh can be economically benefited by exporting products to north-eastern region of India, taking advantage of proximity, said Chief Minister of Tripura state Manik Sarkar.

“Tripura is a potential hub for trade with Bangladesh in the entire north-east India. It is surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides, which enables easy access to the eastern, central, southern regions and, to some extent, to the north-eastern parts of Bangladesh from Tripura,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star at his secretariat office in Agartala on November 12.

Sarkar said India expects to continue using Ashuganj as a port of call for transit and transhipment after the Palatana power plant project in Tripura is over. Bangladesh has signed a memorandum of understanding allowing India to transport heavy power plant equipment for the project.

“If Ashuganj becomes a port of call, it will create scope for big financial gain for Bangladesh,” he said.

“We had a connection in the past and now we need to find out the missing links as those are very important for the connection. We need to revive the missing links for the economic development of the two countries,” the minister noted.

Tripura is the gateway to the entire north-eastern region of India so Bangladesh can derive economic advantages from the market of about 4 crore people and reduce the trade gap with India, he said.

Bangladesh enjoyed a trade surplus with Tripura last year. Bangladesh exported goods worth Rs150 crore to Tripura, while its import was worth only Rs10 crore. Sarkar believes Bangladesh's trade would exceed Rs200 crore this year.

The presence of Bangladesh is conspicuous in Tripura where people not only speak Bangla, they also consume Bangladeshi products and even observe the language day on February 21 every year.

“We need to bring our essential commodities from 2,000 miles away…. What is the logic to carry the essentials from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Hariyana? The items are available in Bangladesh and these can be imported to Tripura and other north-eastern states. So, Bangladesh has an immense opportunity to do business for its own economic benefit,” the minister said.

Even Bangladeshi investors can invest in various sectors in Tripura. Bangladeshi businessmen have already shown interest in steel industry, food processing and readymade garments, and demand of those is very high even outside of Tripura.

With the establishment of road links between Agartala and Ashuganj, Sabroom of Tripura and the Chittagong port through Feni and expansion of railways from Akhaura to Sabroom, he said goods from Bangladesh will be able to enter Tripura and other north-eastern states and even central India.

 

[saleen_s7]

Tripura beckons Bangladesh

Sunday, November 28, 2010
Tripura beckons Bangladesh
Chief minister tells The Daily Star of business prospect
Rezaul Karim

Bangladesh can be economically benefited by exporting products to north-eastern region of India, taking advantage of proximity, said Chief Minister of Tripura state Manik Sarkar.

“Tripura is a potential hub for trade with Bangladesh in the entire north-east India. It is surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides, which enables easy access to the eastern, central, southern regions and, to some extent, to the north-eastern parts of Bangladesh from Tripura,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star at his secretariat office in Agartala on November 12.

Sarkar said India expects to continue using Ashuganj as a port of call for transit and transhipment after the Palatana power plant project in Tripura is over. Bangladesh has signed a memorandum of understanding allowing India to transport heavy power plant equipment for the project.

“If Ashuganj becomes a port of call, it will create scope for big financial gain for Bangladesh,” he said.

“We had a connection in the past and now we need to find out the missing links as those are very important for the connection. We need to revive the missing links for the economic development of the two countries,” the minister noted.

Tripura is the gateway to the entire north-eastern region of India so Bangladesh can derive economic advantages from the market of about 4 crore people and reduce the trade gap with India, he said.

Bangladesh enjoyed a trade surplus with Tripura last year. Bangladesh exported goods worth Rs150 crore to Tripura, while its import was worth only Rs10 crore. Sarkar believes Bangladesh's trade would exceed Rs200 crore this year.

The presence of Bangladesh is conspicuous in Tripura where people not only speak Bangla, they also consume Bangladeshi products and even observe the language day on February 21 every year.

“We need to bring our essential commodities from 2,000 miles away…. What is the logic to carry the essentials from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Hariyana? The items are available in Bangladesh and these can be imported to Tripura and other north-eastern states. So, Bangladesh has an immense opportunity to do business for its own economic benefit,” the minister said.

Even Bangladeshi investors can invest in various sectors in Tripura. Bangladeshi businessmen have already shown interest in steel industry, food processing and readymade garments, and demand of those is very high even outside of Tripura.

With the establishment of road links between Agartala and Ashuganj, Sabroom of Tripura and the Chittagong port through Feni and expansion of railways from Akhaura to Sabroom, he said goods from Bangladesh will be able to enter Tripura and other north-eastern states and even central India.

Even Bangladeshi investors? Clearly we are not the priority

 

[integra]

Even Bangladeshi investors? Clearly we are not the priority

investing money does make some profit right? Times changing we should also start investing.

 

[MAFIAN GOD]

Thats a good news.
BD recently started evolving itself in a new matured economic form.So by more investments more development take place.

 

[Gonjo]

It was heard few days ago that AMCL-Pran group will be setting up one of their agro plant in Tripura.

 

[eastwatch]

Thats a good news.
BD recently started evolving itself in a new matured economic form.So by more investments more development take place.

Investment in tertiary industries can bring fruits when it is in a little matured economy. In my opinion, investment is needed more in the primary indudstries in the Indian NE. BD industrialists may not invest in the NE where the infrastructure is not strong enough to take investments in the factories. Rather, they may go there to get maximum benefits by investing in fields like logging in the forests and developing limestone mines, and import these items.

A large part of Assam/Tripura (and also Burma) is covered with trees. BD's furniture industry needs imported woods and the country lacks this item in its own land. When the GoI develops the physical infrastructure there, only then the BD industrialists may go forward to invest there in the secondary and tertiary fields in the future.

However, I can see that our people may confine their business activities in Tripura only, where the people speak the same language and we understand each other. Moreover, this Rajya is in our vicinity and is almost surrounded by BD land.

 

[GUNS-N- ROSES]

i think potential of our noth eastern states is under utilised. its a good development.

 

[eastwatch]

The news below is an excerpt from the Daily News of Bangladesh. It says about the development in the furniture industry. BD wants to be a full-fledged exporter of this item. So, Assam/Tripura can help BD in this respect by supplying good quality timbers.

Nat'l furniture fair opens
Staff Correspondent

The ninth National Furniture Fair-2010 was kick-started on Monday at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city with the organisers demanding adoption of a national policy for boosting the furniture industry and expanding the export market of its products.

The Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners・Association has organised the six-day fair with 78 furniture-manufacturing houses showcasing their products in 170 stalls.

The government will lend all possible helps for developing and flourishing the sector, industries minister Dilip Barua assured the BFIOA in his speech at the inaugural ceremony.

Commerce secretary Md Ghulam Hussain, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry president AK Azad, Export Promotion Bureau vice-chairman Jalal Ahmed, and BFIOA secretary general Selim H Rahman also addressed the function presided over by BFIOA chairman KM Akhteruzzaman.

At present, Bangladesh痴 furniture can compete in terms of quality with the furniture produced in any other country but the country is yet to exploit the full potential of furniture export, industry owners said.

They said the sector earned $20 million from furniture exports in fiscal year 2009-10 and $6 million in the first five months of the current fiscal year. But they termed the amounts paltry compared to the $350 billion worth of global market demand.

They said around 20 lakh people were now employed at about 30,000 furniture shops across the country but there was no institution to generate skilled manpower for the sector. They demanded that an institution should be established to train furniture workers and that a high tariff should be imposed on imported furniture to sustain the domestic industry.

They also called on the government to help the furniture industry owners preserve their share of the domestic market and to explore new export markets for their products.

The companies participating in the fair are offering 5 to 33 per cent discount on their products, they said. The fair will remain open from 9:00am to 9:00pm every day until Saturday.

 

[Kinetic]

Investment in tertiary industries can bring fruits when it is in a little matured economy. In my opinion, investment is needed more in the primary indudstries in the Indian NE. BD industrialists may not invest in the NE where the infrastructure is not strong enough to take investments in the factories. Rather, they may go there to get maximum benefits by investing in fields like logging in the forests and developing limestone mines, and import these items.

A large part of Assam/Tripura (and also Burma) is covered with trees. BD's furniture industry needs imported woods and the country lacks this item in its own land. When the GoI develops the physical infrastructure there, only then the BD industrialists may go forward to invest there in the secondary and tertiary fields in the future.

However, I can see that our people may confine their business activities in Tripura only, where the people speak the same language and we understand each other. Moreover, this Rajya is in our vicinity and is almost surrounded by BD land.

Indian north east has much better infrastructure than BD so why should BD industrialist will keep them aside if they can survive the competition.

The trees of North East is mainly for internal demands of India and if little remained that may be exported. But due to growing demand the chance is less in future.