Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said the business communities of both Bangladesh and India should draw close and play their due role in fostering mutual prosperity and economic advancement of their peoples. "Time is ripe for the Indian business community to focus more on Bangladesh and take advantage of its economic growth, cheaper cost and huge consumer base," he said. Momen said both the governments are sincerely exploring the avenues to further facilitate their trade and investment relations and have agreed to introduce negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The Foreign Minister was speaking as the chief guest at a session titled "Trade and Commerce" at the police ground in Silchar, Assam that was chaired by Kambhampati Hari Babu, Governor of the state of Mizoram, India Read more: Momen inaugurates ‘Bangabandhu Corner’ and ‘Bangabandhu garden’ at NIT, Silchar Chandra Mohan Patowary, Minister for Environment and Forests, Act East Policy Affairs and Welfare of MinoritiesGovernment of Assam, India and Mustafizur Rahman, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India also spoke. Momen said Bangladesh is India’s most important development and trading partner. "India receives the highest number of tourists and medical patients from Bangladesh. Thousands of Indian nationals are working in Bangladesh, contributing to both the economies," he said. "I am confident that the deep bonds of friendship existing between Bangladesh and India shall continue to grow and flourish," Momen said. The India Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, Government of India organized the session at the Silchar-Sylhet Festival. Read more: Bangladesh delegation led by FM Momen attends 1st Silchar-Sylhet Festival-2022 Momen said Bangladesh is uniquely located to enable Indian investors to export their products to not only to the North Eastern States of India, but also to Nepal, Bhutan, and to South East Asian countries. On the other hand, he said, geographical proximity makes the North East Region lucrative for Bangladesh to invest in small and medium scale sectors like food-processing industries, agro-based industries, IT sector, and forest-based and tourism based industries. "I would urge Indian investors to consider possible investments in infrastructure projects, manufacturing, in energy and transport sectors. Indian investors and business houses can set up industries in Bangladesh through Buy-Back arrangements by reducing time, cost and resources," said the Foreign Minister.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said COVID-19 has slowed economic advancement of the country to some extent but the nation will step forward defying all hurdles.