NE, Bangla have much to gain from economic cooperation

GUWAHATI, February 12: The development interests of India's Northeast region are such that it must try to get an assured market for greater utilisation of its natural resources and go for joint venture processing and manufacturing units with Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, setting up growth zones along its international boundary bordering Bangladesh, said Gurudas Das of the Omiyo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development here today. Das, who was addressing a day-long seminar on "India's Northeast and Bangladesh: Problems and Opportunities", organised by the Centre for Northeast Studies and Policy Research (CNESPR), in collaboration with The Assam Tribune group of newspapers at the Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture Auditorium here, said that the NE region requires vertical integration between its trade and production structures to make its economy more vibrant and growth generating. This can be achieved through the establishment of processing and manufacturing units in the region instead of exporting the raw materials without any value addition. For this, he said, the NE region needs an assured market in Bangladesh. Moreover, as Bangladesh, with a population density of 981 and with 35.6 per cent of its population living below the poverty line and three per cent average annual growth rate of labour force is also facing scarcity of critical raw materials and having continuous negative trade balance with India, can also benefit equally with the NE region, from joint ventures with the NE entrepreneurs, he claimed. Addressing the seminar, M Rehmatullah, Programme Director, T and C, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka, said that initiatives are to be taken to strengthen the process of cooperation within the South Asian Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ) comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, NE India and Nepal, so that this could promote mutual trust, good will and understanding and thus create gradually a more congenial atmosphere and awareness among the civil society of the Quadrangle for increased cooperation. The integration of transport system of Bangladesh and NE India would also help in sustainable economic and social developments of various levels in this part of the Indian sub-continent, he said. However, to achieve the physical, economical, social and political integration of their economics, both Bangladesh and India will have to take bold decisions and make further political commitment, he said. Choudhury Abrar, of the Department of International Affairs, Dhaka University, said in his address that against the backdrop the growing competitions all over the globe, the people of NE India and Bangladesh give serious thoughts about the price of non-cooperation. Saying that problems are bound to occur between two proximate neighbours like the NE region and Bangladesh, he called for rationalism among the members of the intelligentsia of both the countries in their attempts at addressing all such issues. Commenting on the issue of illegal migrants entering this part of India from Bangladesh, he said that man has a general tendency to move to places wherever he gets the opportunities for earning a living. In case of Bangladeshi people, unplanned development in their country has become the sources of many of their problems, he said. But rival claims by the countries concerned (Bangla Desh and India) on the issue can further compound such problems, but whatever may be the case, both Bangladesh and NE India should go for better economic cooperation between themselves for their own economic interest, Abrar said. Chairman Northeast Development Finance Corporation (NEDFi) Jayanta Madhab, also supported the assertion made by Abrar that cost of non-cooperation in this hour is tremendous. Madhab also said that if .5 per cent trading could be raised within the SAGQ it would generate 1.8 million jobs leading to an additional annual growth of 1.2 per cent in the GNP of the members of the Quadrangle. Moreover, development of waterways transport in Quadrangle will also result in a tremendous boost in the tourism industry for its members, he said, adding, natural resources like gas in Tripura, for example, could be sold to Bangladesh as associated gas. Electric power generation is also an area which could well attract the attention of the authorities and entrepreneurs of both NE and Bangladesh, he said. Through true economic cooperation with Bangladesh the NE region can benefit much but the people here should be made aware of it with the help of facts and figures, Madhab said. Md Farooq Sobhan, former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, said in his address that India should agree to remove all tariff barriers for Bangladeshi products and streamline the procedures for customs, immigration etc for ensuring smooth economic cooperation between the two countries. The seminar, which was conducted by CNESPR Managing Trustee Sanjoy Hazarika, was also addressed by Md AA Mintoo, former president, Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Amiya Kumar Sarma of NEDFi, Sunil Saikia of the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurs, Akid Zaman, president, NE Coal Exporters' Association, Amalendu Guha and Anindita Dasgupta of Cotton College, among others.