Likely to renew economic cooperation with India: B'desh

India and Bangladesh could renew economic engagements, Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali said on Wednesday.

The two countries "could renew economic engagements in the light of Bangladesh's graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) and India's emergence as a global power with strong economic growth."

It is pertinent to mention that Bangladesh has recently graduated from "Least Development Category" to a developing country.

"We seek substantial investment from Indian investors in three special economic zones of Mongla, Bheramara and Mirsarai in Bangladesh to broaden our exportable base. We could engage in a series of 'buy-back' projects similar to those between USA and Canada," the High Commissioner said.

He was speaking at a seminar jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Bangladesh High Commission in the national capital.

He also said that the two countries are working on dismantling the non-tariff and para-tariff barriers

The High Commissioner stressed that "Bangladesh-India bilateral ties could also act as a catalyst for strengthening regional and sub-regional cooperation and integration, adding "both the countries are working on strengthening the sub-regional cooperation under the BBIN initiative as well as inter-regional cooperation under the aegis of BIMSTEC and ASEAN."

Furthermore, Principal Coordinator (SDG Affairs), Prime Minister's Office, Bangladesh Abul Kalam Azad, in his presentation said that way forward for Bangladesh following its graduation from LDC would be to increase investment in human development, overcome infrastructure gap, invest in quality education and research, adopt innovation and digitalization, enhance north-south, south-south, triangular cooperation and diversify export.

Senior Vice President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Fazle Fahim said, "To make successful transition Bangladesh needs to explore strategic joint venture investments in high-value sectors, focus on innovation and research, blue economy and multimodal connectivity.