New trade possibilities: About 37 members of Malda Chamber of Commerce leave for Bangladesh

Malda: The representatives of Malda Merchants Chamber of Commerce are on a visit to Bangladesh to attend a trade conference organised in Champai Nawabganj, Bangladesh. Business organisations of India and Bangladesh are meeting to develop import-export trade and open up new avenues of business.

Jayanta Kundu, president of Malda Merchant Chamber of Commerce claimed that if the talks are successful, many trade opportunities will be opened with Bangladesh.

Mahadipur is one of India’s largest international land port to import and export various raw materials, including grains and fruits. If the scope of this trade can be increased, the traders of the country will benefit. Along with this, the country’s foreign exchange will also increase. An average of 300 to 1300 truckloads of goods are exported to Bangladesh through Mahadipur port daily. “Champai Nawabganj Chamber of Commerce is just across the border. We have had discussions with them. They have also expressed interest in holding talks with us in order to expand export avenues,” stated Kundu.

About 37 representatives of various trade bodies of Malda left for Bangladesh on Thursday. The Bangladesh representative of the Indian High Commission will also be present for the talks.

Uttam Basak, secretary of the Malda Merchant Chamber of Commerce, said: “The Indian government has fixed a limit of 350 lorries for export through Mahdipur land port. We want this to be increased to 500. We have written to the concerned department over this. Recently, the government imposed 40 per cent commercial duty on onions.

As a result, the onion export has stopped. Bangladeshi traders are not interested in buying onions from India at high prices. We have also raised this issue with the Indian government and requested that the commercial duty on onions be withdrawn.”