Bangladesh and India will jointly inaugurate their first ever Border Haat today along the borders of Kurigram district in Bangladesh and West Garo Hill district in the Indian state of Meghalaya.
Bangladesh Commerce Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan and his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma will formally open the market, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
The haat has been set up on four bighas of no-man’s land along the border at Rajibpur upazila in Kurigram.
Locally produced vegetables, fruits, fruit juice, processed foods, spices, bamboo, bamboo grass and broomstick, products of local cottage industries like gamchha, lungi, garments and melamine products, small agricultural tools like plough, axe, spade and chisel etc will be traded at the haat.
The list of items allowed for trade in the designated markets may be expanded or modified on mutual consent.
The haat will resume on Wednesdays from 10:00am to 4:00pm in the summer and 10:00am to 3.00pm in the winter, Md Abdul Kader, a member of the haat inauguration committee, told our Kurigram correspondent.
People living within 5-kilometre radius of the haat will be allowed to trade here with special identity cards, noted Kader, also the upazila nirbahi officer of Rajibpur.
The yearly volume of bilateral trade from the Border Haats has been estimated at around $20 million.
Illegal trafficking may stop now in the area after the launch of the Border Haat, said Jahurul Islam, a resident of Rajibpur.
More than 2000 Bangladeshis and 69 Indians applied to their respective authorities for a place in the haat. But primarily around 300 of them will get the opportunity for marketing their products.
The Indian minister hoped the opening of the haat will herald a new chapter of cooperation in Indo-Bangla trade. “Border Haats will make the border villages on both sides more prosperous through improved market access for the locally produced goods,” he added.
Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mukul M Sangma, lawmakers Md Jafor Ali (Kurigram-2), Md Jakir Hossen (Kurigram-4) and divisional commissioner of Rangpur, among others, are expected to grace the inaugural function.
Sangma urged to further bolster the Indo-Bangla trade ties for the betterment of the neighbours.
“Building up a sustainable relationship is very important for both of us…. There is a need for increasing inter-dependence between the two nations,” observed the chief minister.
The two sides signed an agreement on October 23 last year to set up two border haats allowing each other’s trucks into their territories and carry goods up to warehouses.
As per the memorandum of understanding, the two countries have identified 13 items — locally grown agricultural and manufactured finished products — for trading at the haats.
In addition to opening Border Haats, both the countries are working on several projects to improve trade infrastructure and connectivity.
-With The Daily Star input
