Fifty thousand metric tonnes of onions imported from India will enter the country in phases starting in the next two to three days, according to State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu.
“The Indian embargo on onion export will not affect its deal with Bangladesh. As per the agreement to import 50,000 tonnes of Indian onion, it will gradually come to Bangladesh. Our onions from India have already boarded trains which will arrive in two or three days through the Darshana route,” he said.
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Titu said this while speaking at a seminar organised by International Business Forum of Bangladesh on "Impact of syndicate and competition on price of essentials,” at its office in the city’s Tejgaon Industrial Area on Sunday.
The Indian government recently announced an exemption for Bangladesh and five other friendly countries from a ban on export of onions, aimed at maintaining stability in their domestic market. By far the largest exemption was for Bangladesh - out of the 54,000MT of onions to be exported under the exemption, 50,000MT was allocated for Bangladesh.
Titu said there is no perfection with markets by definition. Different issues like natural calamities, pandemic and global conflict sometimes seriously disrupt markets.
When the government detects any unscrupulous behavior in the market, it takes necessary action, he said.
Highlighting the government’s role to support the people affected by market volatility, he said the government provides support to the poor through programs like TCB's family card for 10 million families.
He suggested an improved supply chain, proper storage of agriculture produce and agro processing, raising the scope for digital transactions to help check market manipulation.
State Minister for Commerce joined the programme as the chief guest, while senior secretary to the Ministry Tapan Kanti Ghosh was present as the special guest.
Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Dhaka Dr Mohammad Helal Uddin Ahmed presented the keynote paper while the IBFB President Humayun Rashid chaired and moderated the programme.