Bangladesh Not To Export Natural Gas To India

Bangladesh commerce secretary Ghulam Rahman has said that Bangladesh would not export natural gas to India unless its domestic requirements for the next 50 years were adequately taken care of.

Addressing a meeting on the India-Bangladesh Trade Review organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here yesterday, Rahman said though reserves in Bangladesh were still being assessed we invite Indian industries using natural gas as an input to set up their units in Bangladesh. There has been a decline in Indian imports to Bangladesh recently due to depreciation in the currencies of some other countries exporting to Bangladesh, according to Rahman.

 

"Measures must be taken to make Indian exports to Bangladesh more competitive against exports from other countries," he added. Indian exports to Bangladesh could be just as competitive as exports from other countries if India provides the right quality and the right price, he said, emphasising the urgency for Bangladesh to address its negative trade balance.

Commenting on the duty free access on 25 product categories that Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpai had offered during his Bangladesh visit last year, he urged the Indian government to notify the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) secretariat of these concessions. This he said would enable SAARC to incorporate these trade concessions within their framework.

Rahman praised India's recent decision regarding enhancement of South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement preferences in the area of ready made garments, and said the earlier hikes in Indian tariffs on ready-made garments had led to erosion of SAPTA preferences.