M.V Harbour-1 to ease trade links between India and Bangladesh
India and Bangladesh have agreed to reduce documentation and other essential requirements to ease the way of doing business
M.V Harbour- 1, which is the first direct container vessel carrying cotton from India to Bangladesh was started on March 28, 2016 from Krishnapatnam, Andhra Pradesh to Chittagong. The journey was started as a part of the shipping agreement and to smoothen trade between Bangladesh and India. The trade agreements for the same were signed in 1974, during the time when Indira Gandhi was the Prime minister and the agreement was re-introduced on June 2015, during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dhaka. In November 2015, the two countries signed a pact aimed at enhancing trade between them by moving commercial cargoes between the two countries. The procedure for carrying out such an arrangement was also stated. There were many conditions that both countries waived to facilitate bilateral trade between them; the important one being, both countries will regard each other's vessels as domestic vessels and not as foreign vessels, in case they (vessels) enter into each other’s port. It’s hoped that this provision will help in addressing the congestion of traffic at two border points, Petrapole (India) and Benapole (Bangladesh), which earlier acted as a bottleneck to the smooth to and fro movement of Export-import cargo. Further, this initiative will also help in reducing the paper work at the customs check point and port, as dues would be paid at par with the India vessels. Along with that, the vessels get complete insurance from the point it’s been loaded till the time it reaches the final beneficiary. In recent times, both the countries have agreed to reduce the custom documentation and other essential requirements to ease the way of doing business. Prior to this, shipments to Bangladesh were sent via Singapore or Colombo which took a comparatively longer time. Now with the direct services, the time taken would considerably decrease to 2-5 days. The new sea route will open the shipments to the North Eastern states and then through road or inland waterways. Also another point to be noted is that cargo moving from India to Dhaka through road will take around 30 days. That way the present sea route is a blessing. The main exports from India to Bangladesh are cotton, raw cotton, tires, minerals, and steel among others and are valued at $6 million per annum. While the imports included fish, textile yarn, cement, mineral fuels, husk and bran which would be worth around half a billion US dollars.
March 29, 2016 | 06:42pm IST
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