Thaindian News

Dhaka, July 8 (IANS) The new bilateral agreements between India and Bangladesh will not only boost multilateral trade in the region but also attract more Indian investments to the country, said Bangladeshi experts and businesses.

They hope that more Indian investments will flow into the country with the ratification of the agreement on protection of investments, the Daily Star reported Friday.

The agreement on allowing Bhutanese vehicles to Bangladesh through the Indian territory will promote multilateral trade in the region, they said.

The agreements were signed by visiting Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni here Thursday.

Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said Bangladesh will now get an opportunity to attract much-needed foreign investments.

Referring to the protection deal, he said Indian investments will continue to grow in the country.

Indian investments in Bangladesh are now legally protected in the events of war or other emergencies.

India has similar agreements with nearly 70 countries.

The deal will remain valid for 10 years and get an extension automatically unless any of the two parties gives a written notice to terminate it.

Ahsan Mansur, executive director of Policy Research Institute, said he was surprised that the two neighbouring countries took years to sign the deal.

“We need more foreign investments. India’s investment here is expected as Bangladesh is its next-door neighbour,” said Mansur, a former top official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Rahman said Bangladeshi businesses are keen to invest in India, particularly in the northeast region.

Amjad Khan Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Pran-RFL company, said no one can say for sure that there won’t be any Bangladeshi investments in India in the future.

Chowdhury, who has a sales office in Kolkata, has been trying to invest in India for the last six years.

Bangladesh’s central bank does not allow capital export at present.

His sales office in India needs to be protected legally, said Chowdhury, also president of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka.

The two countries approved the standard operating procedure for movement of Bhutanese vehicles between the land customs stations of India and Bangladesh, the Star said.

With the signing of the deal, Bhutanese trucks will now be allowed to use the Indian territory to travel to Bangladesh for loading and unloading goods.

In October last year, Nepal was also given the same facility.

A study shows over 80 percent of Bangladesh’s earnings from transit and transhipment will come from India and the rest from Nepal and Bhutan, provided Bangladesh gives the facilities to the three neighbouring countries.