India on Tuesday assured Bangladesh of complete cooperation in ensuring barrier-free trade between the two countries and said that together the two countries can aspire for a better future for people, particularly farmers.
In his address at the India-Bangladesh Digital Conference on Agriculture Sector, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry, assured Bangladesh of complete cooperation in ensuring barrier-free trade between the two countries. He said, "We have offered duty-free market access to Bangladesh in many products, including, agri-exports. Together we can aspire for a better and brighter future for people of both the countries, particularly for the farmers of both countries to benefit from economic prosperity."
According to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce, the Minister said that India and Bangladesh share a very warm and cordial relationship, based on mutual trust and friendship which goes beyond the arithmetic of economic gains and losses. He further 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 and economic engagement, besides implementing a number of connectivity and infrastructure projects," he said.
He said that Prime Minister 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 said.
As over 50 per cent of the population in both countries are involved in the agriculture sector, the Minister said, "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 and 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."
The Ministry of Commerce said in its statement that the Minister appreciated the intention of the Bangladesh government to search for ways to increase and improve the prosperity of their farmers. He assured complete cooperation in this regard.
Goyal also 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 and machinery and development of associated cottage industries.
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, Goyal said, "On food processing, we can work with each other, learn from each other and expand our presence in the global market in partnership with each other. We share a strong relationship in the Railways sector which is our bridge to greater engagement in infrastructure development."
"Governments of both our countries have set very high benchmarks on how Bangladesh and 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 and support economic development," he added.