Ficci for joint task force to boost Indo-Bangla ties, promote investments

Federation identifies six key initiatives as next year's agenda for Bangladesh industry

Aiming to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh, industry chamber Ficci on Saturday proposed a joint task force to promote investments in areas like infrastructure, education, health, power and tourism.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) proposed to work on six major initiatives as an agenda for the next year to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

"We would like to propose the establishment of a joint task force to promote investments in Bangladesh in the focus areas of infrastructure, education, health, power and tourism," Ficci Director General Ambika Sharma said here.

The industry chamber said it had been working in tandem with the FBCCI to strengthen bilateral ties through trade and investments.

"We would also like to propose FBCCI work with Ficci in the several connectivity initiatives for expansion of sub-regional co-operation among BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal) countries to cover our links through road, rail, rivers, seas and transmission links," said Sharma.

"We also proposed to FBCCI to initiate our joint investment exercise for creating a roadmap of co-operation in the Bay of Bengal in exploration of hydrocarbons, marine resources and deep-sea fishing among many sectors," she said.

The industry chamber proposed a collaboration in knowledge-sharing to facilitate innovation and research, and partnership on skill development to contribute towards building a global workforce by harnessing youth energy.

The sixth initiative proposed by the industry lobby was to set up a joint task force on tariff and non-tariff barriers.

"Bangladesh is strong enough. Now we have got over $32 billion plus reserves," said Abdul Matlub Ahmad, President of FBCCI and Leader of the Indo-Bangladesh Business Delegation.

"The government has allowed us up to $25 billion to keep as reserves and invest the rest. So we are now looking for countries to invest and who could be more attractive than India."

The seminar 'Doing Business with Bangladesh' was held on the occasion of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to the country.