ICCB’s quarterly bulletin reveals, India-Bangladesh bilateral trade was worth only $11 billion in fiscal 2021-22, out of which export from Bangladesh to India was worth mere $1.27 billion.
The World Bank estimates that the country’s exports to India could rise by 182 per cent from the current level if the countries implement a free trade agreement. Improving transport connectivity between the two sides could increase exports even further, yielding a 297 per cent rise.
South Asia is one of the least integrated regions in the world in terms of trade and people-to-people contact and intra-regional trade now stands at just one-fifth of its trade potential, ICCB noted.
An electricity market of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal would save an estimated $17 billion in capital costs. However, opportunities for growth through regional trade remain largely untapped in the region and intra-regional trade in South Asia remains much below the actual potential.
At present, regional trade in South Asia accounts for only 5 per cent of estimated $23 billion in trade flow; well below the potential trade of $67 billion.
