Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution Shri Piyush Goyal today assured Bangladesh, from India's side, complete cooperation in ensuring barrier-free trade between the two countries. Addressing India-Bangladesh Digital Conference on Agriculture Sector, he said that we have offered duty-free market access to Bangladesh in many products, including, agri-exports. The minister said that together we can aspire for a better & brighter future for people of both the countries, particularly for the farmers of both countries to benefit from economic prosperity.

Shri Goyal said that India & Bangladesh share a very warm & cordial relationship, based on mutual trust & friendship which goes beyond the arithmetic of economic gains & losses. He said that this partnership stands out as a role model in the region, for good neighbourly relations. “Our ties have witnessed an upswing in the last 6 years. We have scaled up trade & economic engagement, besides implementing a number of connectivity & infrastructure projects”, he mentioned. He said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina share a common vision and pro-business policies which have enhanced governance in our two countries. They both share an ambition of improving the prosperity of the people, he mentioned.

Shri Goyal said that with over 50% of the population in both the countries involved in the agriculture sector, it has huge socio-economic dimension. “We are delighted that Bangladesh has now become self-sufficient in food, and the goal is to modernise agriculture. This is an area where we both should work with greater synergies & collaboration. Agriculture can have game-changing potential between our two countries. Bilateral cooperation in this sector can pave the way to overcome the current economic challenges. Agriculture sector has huge socio-economic dimensions. Being the prominent sector of the economy, bilateral cooperation in this sector can pave the way to overcome the current economic challenges our countries are facing.”, he added.

The Minister appreciated the intention of the Government of Bangladesh to search for ways to increase & improve the prosperity of their farmers. He assured complete cooperation in this regard. Shri Goyal spoke about the steps taken by India to help our farmers, including transportation, Irrigation, Institutional credit, Marketing facilities, Supply of quality inputs like seeds, neem coating fertilisers& machinery & development of associated cottage industries. “We have used a very holistic approach to enhance the productivity & efficiency of farmers & bring back attractiveness to agriculture sector.Going forward, in the post-Pandemic world as India also expands its international engagement coupled with our efforts to make India more self-reliant, we believe we will be able to increase the incomes of our farmers & help them prosper.”

The Minister said that in view of the recent developments, the non-tariff barriers will play a crucial role in determining how Bangladesh utilises the abundant opportunities India has to offer

Referring to other areas of bilateral cooperation, Shri Goyal said that the largest number of tractors used in Bangladesh come from India. “On food processing, we can work with each, learn from each other & expand our presence in the global market in partnership with each other. We share a very strong relationship in the Railways sector which is our bridge to greater engagement in infrastructure development.Government of both our countries have set very high benchmarks on how Bangladesh & India together can capture a larger share of the global market in textiles. Through this, we can provide jobs to the people, increase earnings from trade & support economic development.”

Barrier-free trade commitment seeks duty-free agricultural access and cooperation to address non-tariff impediments. Assurance of cooperation to achieve barrier-free trade between India and Bangladesh includes duty-free market access for certain agricultural products and a commitment to address non tariff impediments. India offers targeted agricultural support-irrigation, credit, transport, quality inputs, machinery, food processing and cottage industry development-to modernise agriculture, raise farmer incomes and deepen bilateral economic integration through connectivity and sectoral partnerships.