“Huge Potential” in India-Bangladesh Textile & Apparels trade – India-Bangladesh Virtual Conference on Textiles and Apparel Sector concluded
08 October 2020: Smriti Irani, Minister of Textiles and Women & Child Development, said that there are many avenues of cooperation and coordination between India and Bangladesh textile and apparel industry. She was speaking at the inaugural session of the ‘India-Bangladesh Virtual Conference on Textiles and Apparel Sector’ jointly organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).
She said that the issues being faced currently in the movement of cargo through Petrapole and Benapole ports are also being investigated. The Minister said that measures are underway to address the logistics challenges in order to reduce the turn-around-time for movement of cargo between the two countries, and inland waterways will also be leveraged for the same.
The Minister said that imposition of zero duty on exports of ethnic apparel from India to Bangladesh would help to increase trade. She stressed that India should focus on increasing yarn and fabric exports to our neighbour. Cotton Cooperation of India (CCI) is working out the modalities for exporting to Bangladesh. India can also learn from the Bangladesh experience with diversified jute products and partner to capture a share in global value chain of silk as well.
In his address, Golam Dastagir Gazi, Minister of Textiles and Jute, Bangladesh, emphasised that the Minister said that barriers to trade in the textile trade of the two countries will be resolved through mutual discussion.
The criticality of grabbing the opportunity thrown by the current pandemic to restructure global value chains in the sector in favour of India and Bangladesh was also discussed at the conference.
Representatives of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) also spoke at the conference.
