Lot of scope for boosting bilateral ties with India in trade, investment: B'desh PM Hasina

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday said that there is scope for giving a thrust to the bilateral relationship with India in the areas of trade and investment.

Inaugurating the India-Bangladesh Business Forum, Hasina said, "Trade and investment between two countries are increasing. The volume of bilateral trade has steadily grown during the past years. But, the balance of trade is still largely in India's favour. So, there is a lot of scope for deepening our relationship with India in areas of trade and investment."

She said that India and Bangladesh have the best of relations and the two countries will further lift its bilateral ties to new heights.

"We (India and Bangladesh) are confident that in the coming years, we will further lift our relationship to new heights. Our cooperation had expanded to several areas including security, energy, connectivity, trade and investment, culture and people-to-people connect," Hasina said.

Recalling India's contributions to the 1971 Liberation War, Hasina outlined, "India-Bangladesh cooperation began during the Liberation War in 1971. Since then, it has always guided our relations. We recall with deep appreciation and gratitude support and cooperation that we had received from India during the Liberation War and led to achieving freedom of Bangladesh."

The Bangladeshi premier said that her country offered three special economic zones (SEZs) for Indian investors. She also invited Indian business leaders to invest in Bangladesh to boost economic ties.

"The substantial investments from Indian investors in 3 SEZs in Bangladesh would help broaden our exportable ways," Hasina remarked.

Hasina is currently on a four-day visit to India having arrived in the country on Thursday. She is slated to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.