With neighbouring Bangladesh agreeing in principle to open up Chittagong port for North Eastern states of India, the prospect for trade and commerce between the two countries has brightened, a top Bangladeshi business leader said today.
Chairman of the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IBCCI), Abdul Matlub Ahmad, said the Bangladesh government headed by Sheikh Hasina has agreed to open up the Chittagong port and allow transhipment of goods from the port by using Bangladesh transport.
"All logistical support for carrying goods in containers in Bangladeshi soil after its release from the port will be given by the people of our country as a result of which they will earn money ," he told reporters here.
He said when India is pressing for transit through Bangladesh, the latter is eyeing enhancing trade and commerce with India which guards the neighbouring country from sides.
A business delegation yesterday met the state minister for Industry and Commerce Jiten Chowdhury and attended the third meeting of the Indo-Bangla task force headed by Tripura Chief Secretary Sudhir Sharma.
Sharma said that India has demanded that Ashuganj river port, about 32 km from here, be declared as a port of call.
A joint delegation of India and Bangladesh with representatives from Tripura would visit the port within few months, he said.
On July 17, the first consignment of bricks from Bangladesh will enter here from Brahmanbaria which would be flagged off by Bangladesh Commerce Minister, Faruk Khan, the IBCCI president said.
Tripura needs forty crore bricks immediately for construction of buildings and bridges.
The IBCCI president said the first batch of tourists from Bangladesh will visit Tripura by this month along with a group of journalists and stay here for four days.
The state government, he said, has offered them a ready made market building in the heart of Tripura for making available Bangladeshi goods, he said.
The proposal would soon be given a final shape, he said.
Ahmad said the paper industry of Bangladesh would get a boost with plans of utilising bamboos, easily available in Tripura, as raw materials.
They were also contemplating to set up tyre industry in Bangladesh using rubber, which grows in abundance in Tripura, as raw material .
Bangladesh , he said, was interested to purchase power from two proposed power projects - Palatana project in South Tripura district and Monarchak power project in West Tripura district, which are likely to be completed by 20012.
The IBCCI president said Bangladesh would demand a lower price than the market if India wanted to carry heavy machines weighing about 300 tonnes for Palatana project through the water ways of Bangladesh, he said.
