An official statement on October 1 said that India and Bangladesh had talked about getting ready to start talks for a free trade deal that would help their economies.
A meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade (JWG) between India and Bangladesh, which took place last week in Dhaka, talked about it.
"The meeting talked about many two-way issues," the Commerce Ministry said. "These included removing restrictions on ports, laying the groundwork for the start of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), harmonizing standards, and mutual recognition of standards, as well as the supply of essential goods to Bangladesh."
CEPA is a type of free trade deal where two trading partners agree to lower or get rid of customs duties on a certain number of goods they trade with each other. In addition, they loosen rules to encourage capital and trade in services.
They also talked about problems related to building up road and rail infrastructure, connecting regions through multiple types of transportation, and building up or improving infrastructure in Land Customs Stations, Integrated Check Posts, and border haats.
These yearly meetings debate trade concerns and investigate prospects for economic and technical partnership, promotion, facilitation, expansion, and diversification of trade between the two countries.
"These meetings help resolve bilateral issues by removing trade barriers, simplifying customs procedures, and improving infrastructure, logistics, and transit facilities to facilitate cross-border trade," it stated.
Bilateral trade fell to $14.2 billion in 2022-23 from $8.13 billion in 2021-22.
