Informal trade in South Asia has been estimated at around 50 per cent of the formal trade within the region even if businessmen in countries in this region have to spend 88 per cent of their total cost for obtaining, submitting or having trade-related documents, checked or processed by different jurisdictions, during cross-border trade.
This is as per a World Bank official, who shared the views at a recent event in the capital Dhaka.
Speaking as the function World Bank Senior Transport Specialist Erik Nora, trade cost in the South Asian nations was 27 per cent higher than that among the East Asian countries while also adding the World Bank has confirmed US $ 1.28 billion loan for the Accelerating transport and trade connectivity in Eastern South Asia (ACCESS) project that will simplify cross-border and regional trades among the South Asian nations.
The project will help increase freight by 30 per cent while travel time will reduce by 30 per cent even if it has been underlined globally the South Asian nations were less integrated in terms of regional trade, as these countries conduct only 5 per cent (of their total trade) among themselves.
It may be mentioned here trade between some South Asian countries, especially between neighbouring Bangladesh and India, have great potential to take mutual trade to new heights, especially in view of the significant increase in shipment of ‘Made in Bangladesh’ apparel to India even as India continues to be a preferred destination to source raw materials as required by Bangladesh’s flourishing apparel and textile sector.
