Burma and Bangladesh look to boost trade

by Siddique Islam

Wednesday, 01 April 2009 12:10

Dhaka (Mizzima) – The third Burma-Bangladesh Joint Trade Commission (JTC) meeting, aimed at boosting bilateral trade between the neighboring countries, will be held on April 7th and 8th in Naypyitaw in Burma. Establishing a direct banking arrangement for the simplification of payments between the two countries will be at the top of the agenda, according to Bangladesh officials speaking on Tuesday from the capital of Dhaka. During the JTC meeting, it is also expected that Bangladesh will seek further access to the Burmese market for the country’s ceramic and pharmaceuticals products. Bangladesh's Commerce Secretary, Feroz Ahmed, will lead an 11-member Bangladeshi delegation to the meeting to discuss different issues, including the establishment of a direct shipping link and the easing of visa regulations for Bangladeshi businessmen. "We'll review the entire range of bilateral relations between the two countries. At the secretary level consultations are scheduled to be held in Dhaka in May and June of this year," a senior official from the Foreign Ministry in Dhaka told Mizzima. "We're trying to improve the bilateral trade relations through establishing a direct banking arrangement between the two countries," added a representative from the Commerce Ministry. He also said a four-member technical team visited Burma, officially known as Myanmar, in February of this year to work out the modalities of banking transactions and ways to make the planned ‘border market’ operational. Currently, payments concerning foreign trade are settled through a third country. Bangladesh's importers now settle payments for bulk exports through bank drafts issued by foreign banks in a third country. An importer is entitled to a US$ 10,000-20,000 bank draft against the import of any single shipment under the existing border trade arrangement. The volume of bilateral trade between the two countries has been insignificant for years due to the lack of proper initiatives, with the balance of trade, according to officials, tilting in favor of Burma over the past dozen years. A review of bilateral trade between the two countries shows that the trade balance favored Bangladesh in 1991-92 and from 1995-96. However, in 1996-97 statistics began to swing the other way, in favor of Burma. Dhaka exported goods and commodities worth US$ 9.6 million to Rangoon in 2007-08, while imports during the period totaled some US$ 82.2 million. Bangladesh primarily exports pharmaceutical products, leather, woven garments and other manufacturing goods to Burma and imports timber, vegetable products, prepared food and fish. < Prev   Next >