A webinar titled “Regional Cooperation in Trade and Development of Agriculture: Perspectives from Bangladesh and India”, jointly organized by South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) and Asian Confluence was conducted on Monday, May 11, 2020 at 11 AM. Conducted by Dr. Selim Raihan, Executive Director, SANEM and Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, the webinar hosted an expert panel discussion. Special remarks were delivered by Mr. Sabyasachi Dutta, Executive Director, Asian Confluence, India East Asia Center, Shillong, India. The panelists present were Mr. Abdus Salam, Managing Director, Organic Bangladesh Limited, Dr. M. Nahid Sattar, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mr. Mahtab Uddin, Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka and Mr. Mahadi Faisal, Team Leader – Business Strategy & Consumer Engagement, ACI Logistics Limited. Attended by around 50 participants including academicians, researchers, journalists, agriculture experts, development practitioners, businessmen and students, the webinar was streamed live on the Facebook page of SANEM.

Dr. Raihan introduced the panelists to the audience of the webinar. He also presented a brief picture of the current state in India-Bangladesh trade in agriculture. The issue of regional cooperation in the current context of the COVID-19 Pandemic was also discussed by Dr. Raihan.

In his special remarks, Mr. Sabyasachi Dutta explained the necessity of cooperation between India and Bangladesh in agricultural sector. In the context of the ongoing pandemic, cooperation in agriculture has become all the more important. He put emphasis on the role of North-eastern states of India in this regard. Sharing his organizational experience, Mr. Dutta pointed out the effective role of thinktanks in increasing regional cooperation.

Dr. M. Nahid Sattar discussed the crisis in agricultural market due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The pandemic has affected income and in turn consumption of the mass people, which has significantly decreased sale of agricultural products. The problems in agricultural market structure has been worsened by the ongoing pandemic. To tackle these problems, he explained the need for commercial transformation of agriculture and development of market management structure in Bangladesh. He identified three specific areas for cooperation between India and Bangladesh in agriculture: trade and commerce, institution (education, research, training and market management) and environment. Dr. Sattar stressed on the necessity of cooperation among agricultural experts and scientists of India and Bangladesh; he pointed out that agricultural experts of the two countries communicate only in international conferences. Agricultural universities and research organizations should collaborate on organizational levels to address the common agricultural issues of the region. Institutions can share their country-specific experiences and collaborate in research. He also said that Bangladesh can learn from India’s Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices. Dr. Sattar shed light on the economic and agricultural aspects of river basin shared by Bangladesh and India. Cooperation in this regard is indispensable as river control measures impact both the countries. Other environmental issues (salinity, groundwater level) related to the agricultural sector of both countries were also discussed by him.

Mr. Abdus Samad reflected on his business experience and presented his insights into trade in agricultural products.  In highlighting the importance of regional cooperation, he explained his company Organic Bangladesh Limited’s collaboration with the state government of Meghalaya. Such collaboration can benefit farmers of both countries, increase regional trade and assist in export earning. He pointed out that through regional cooperation, Bangladesh can gain advantage in export of agricultural products, in competition with other countries.

Mr. Mahadi Faisal pointed out the adverse effect of the pandemic on trade in livestock and fisheries between India and Bangladesh. Since ports have been closed down, transfer of products is being greatly hampered. He also pointed out that Bangladesh lacks in capacity in terms of post-harvest loss management. Bangladesh and India should share their experiences with each other in this regard.

Mr. Mahtab Uddin discussed the overall bilateral trade scenario. He pointed that although Bangladesh exports more to India in proportion to the rest of the world, only 20% of the full export potential of 6 billion dollars, as estimated by the structural gravity model, has been realized. He also discussed the Non-Tariff Barriers existing in this region. According a to a study by World Bank restrictions by India on imports from South Asia region is 9 times higher in terms of tariff equivalence, than the rest of the world. He stressed on harmonization in cross-border trade operations and easing of documentations and procedural management for increasing trade volume. Infrastructures of land customs stations also need to be improved.

After the panel discussion, participants shared their own views and opinion on bilateral cooperation in agriculture between India and Bangladesh. It was pointed out that farmers in Bangladesh do not have any expertise on marketing of their products and thus, they should be trained in this regard. The potential of artificial intelligence and data analyzing tools in increasing productivity in agriculture was also discussed. However, in increasing bilateral cooperation and trade in agriculture, political willingness is most important. Participants also stressed on diplomatic negotiations between Bangladesh and North-eastern states of India.

 

The panelists later addressed the questions raised by the participants. In his concluding remarks, Dr. Raihan expressed hope that SANEM and Asian Confluence will continue to collaborate in fostering intellectual discussions promoting regional cooperation and trade.