Piyush Goyal: Look to advance CEPA with Bangladesh in coming days

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday stated the federal government needed to maneuver ahead with a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Bangladesh and known as for larger cooperation between the nations in areas corresponding to defence and prescribed drugs manufacturing.

In FY21, commerce with Bangladesh accounted for about 3.3 per cent of exports at $9.7 billion and 0.3 per cent of imports at $1.3 billion.

“We need to give more impetus to joint production of defence equipment. Our defence cooperation has not progressed though India offered a $500 million dollars line of credit. The time has come to take it to the next level,” Goyal stated at a digital India-Bangladesh stakeholder’s meet. In 2019, India had introduced a $500 million line of credit score to Bangladesh for defence associated procurement.

“We look to advance a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Bangladesh in the days to come,” Goyal stated. India is at present within the technique of negotiating free commerce agreements with the UK, EU, Australia, Canada and Israel and has not too long ago concluded an FTA with the UAE. He added the 2 nations ought to have a look at a joint improvement program for vaccines and different medicines and change into the “pharmacy of the world.”

He recommended elevated cooperation in defence and prescribed drugs manufacturing as two of 4 focus areas to strengthen financial ties between the 2 nations. The Minister additionally recommended constructing uninterrupted resilient provide chains and exploring potential areas of investments like textile, jute merchandise, leather-based and footwear as two different focus areas.

He added the whole of $8 billion prolonged to Bangladesh, by three strains of credit score, was the biggest concessional credit score given by India to any single nation.