Salim Reza, Dhaka: Import of goods from Pakistan to Bangladesh increased by more than 27 percent from July to September of the current financial year 2024-25. At the same time, the import of goods from India decreased by about 9.5 percent. Analysts say that Bangladesh is strengthening its diplomatic and commercial relations with Pakistan in the changing political situation. At the same time, there is a slight cooling of relations with neighboring India. This is reflected in the statistics of import of goods from the two countries.
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Imports from Pakistan to Bangladesh are mainly raw materials and chemicals for clothing industry, raw materials for glass industry, broken glass, raw materials for plastic and rubber industry, minerals and various consumer goods including onions and potatoes. According to Bangladesh Bank, in the first quarter of the current financial year, goods imported from Pakistan to Bangladesh were worth 179.4 million (179.4 million) dollars. In the same period of the previous financial year, the amount of import of goods from the country was 141 million (14 crore 10 lakh) dollars. According to this calculation, the import of goods from Pakistan has increased by 27.23 percent in a quarter of one year.
At the same time there has been a slight decline in the import of goods from India. In the first quarter of the current financial year, the import of goods from India was 2 thousand 52.1 million (205 crore 21 lakh) dollars. Although the amount of import during the same period of the previous financial year was 2 thousand 267.2 million (226 crore 72 million) dollars. Accordingly, in the first quarter of the current financial year, the import has decreased by 9.48 percent compared to the same period of the last financial year.
However, India is still the second largest source of product imports to Bangladesh. After China, Bangladesh imports the highest amount of goods from the country. According to the data of Bangladesh Bank, in the last fiscal year 2023-24, India was the second among the top 20 import source countries of Bangladesh. 9 billion (9 billion) dollars worth of goods were imported from India at that time, which is more than 14 percent of the total imports. And the highest product import was from China, amounting to more than 16.5 billion dollars. This was more than 26 percent of total imports. Pakistan was ranked 20th in the list as a source of imported goods in the last financial year. Imports from the country were only 627 million (62 crore 70 lakh) dollars. The country’s contribution to total imports was only 1 percent. However, recently the import volume from the country is increasing due to the start of direct shipping from Pakistan.
Al Amran, Bangladesh service manager of the Indian Bajaj brand motorcycle, thinks that the trade from Pakistan could have increased earlier. He told G24H, ‘Pakistan has many advantageous products to export. But it could not come until now, now it is coming. Imports from India may have decreased due to visa ban between the two countries. And now even if it increases from Pakistan, the import from India will be more in terms of quantity. Because India is our neighbor and friendly country. And in the future, the main regulator of commercial relations will be demand and supply.’
Business leaders in Bangladesh, however, say the decline in imports from India has more to do with the investment climate than political reasons. In this regard, former director of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry SM Zillur Rahman Azad told 24 hours, ‘Majority of machinery and industrial raw materials are imported from India. But imports fell slightly as the overall investment situation did not improve. But still a large part of the raw material of the pharmaceutical industry comes from India. So if there is any supply shortage here it will create a big problem. But mainly no goods are imported from Pakistan except cotton. Again we do not have any export to Pakistan. This is because the country’s market is small and there is no promotion for exports. However, it is noteworthy that Bangladesh’s diplomatic relations with Pakistan have increased more than before. This activity is visible from the highest level of the government to the diplomatic level.
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