'Indian businessmen keen to invest in Bangladesh'

AGARTALA: With the trade between India and Bangladesh on an upswing, Indian businessmen are expressing a keen desire to invest in the neighbouring country, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran said today.

Bangladesh exported goods worth USD 562 million to India, which is the highest since the country came into being in 1971, Saran told reporters during a visit to the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Akhaura as part of an 18-member delegation led by secretary, border management Gouri Kumar.

The ICP was inaugurated by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in 2010.

Thirteen ICPs are being built at various points on borders with Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar to help traders and tourists from the countries avail facilities like immigration, customs and quarantine and official cross-border movements under one umbrella.

Bangladesh shares a 4,096-km international border with five Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

Saran also said that two border 'haats' (markets) had been set up in Meghalaya and two more were being built in Tripura for trade in locally available goods.