Royal Orient to chug along again

Bangladesh sees West Bengal and the north eastern states as a natural gateway for trade.

Speaking at an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Hemayetuddin, high commissioner of Bangladesh in India, said trade contacts between the two countries must be fully institutionalised to enhance the volume of exchange.

The balance of trade between the two was largely in favour of India and the gap should be bridged. "The potential for business between the two countries must be researched," Hemayetuddin added.

Anup Singh, president of ICC, said the energy sector was one of the promising areas of co-operation in the sub region. "Within the east and south Asia quadrangle, it is estimated that undeveloped hydropower potential is to the extent of 60,000 MW" he said.

Singh pointed out, the gas reserves in Bangladesh, Tripura and Assam were estimated to be around 30 trillion cubic feet. These gas reserved could be effectively utilised for the development of projects and joint ventures in power, fertilisers and downstream petrochemicals. Singh pointed out that another sector which could be developed was tourism.