Industry body in Assam and Bangladesh propose Assam-Bangladesh Council

GUWAHATI: Industry body in Assam and Bangladesh proposed to set up body Assam-Bangladesh Council to foster bilateral trade. A 15 member delegation of parliamentarians from Bangladesh visited Assam and held discussion with Federation of Industry and Commerce of North eastern Region (FINER) in Guwahati and discussed bilateral trade.

There was also proposal for joint venture in making bilingual Assamese-Bengali cinema. MP, Rashid Khan Menon said. "There is tremendous scope for trade and commerce between North East part of India and Bangladesh given the geographical proximity each shares with the other."

Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi said that the North East part of India once enjoyed hassle-free connectivity through waterways. "The partition of the country made the region landlocked by disrupting many routes of communication. But today with both the countries having the best of relations the routes can be reopened for the mutual benefit of both sides."

Minister for Industries and Power, Pradyut Bordoloi appraised the delegation about the setting up of three border trade centres at Sutarkandi, Golokganj and Mankachar close to the Bangladesh border.

He pointed out that the opening of the trade centres has not yielded the desired results. "The trade centres opened by us have not led to increase in the volume of trade and commerce. There are some minor irritants that have to be addressed at the bilateral level. Our Government has apprised the Government of India about the issues that need to be sorted out to give the much-needed impetus to trade and commerce," he said urging the MPs from the neighbouring country to take the lead in building up the necessary infrastructure on their side of the border to augment trade and commerce in a big way.

The Minister informed that a team of high officials from the Industry and Commerce Department is currently in Dhaka to woo investments in the State. "Assam or for that matter the North East is a huge economic zone and the best investment destination in the country."