The Bhutanese Leading the way.
On June 13, the house unanimously ratified both the agreement and protocol on movement of Traffic in Transit between the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh and the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB).
All the 44 members present and voting, voted in its favor.
The protocol provided the framework to ensure greater connectivity with and through Bangladesh by road, rail, air, river and coastal waterways and will provide an alternative export and import transit routes covering all modes of transportation for Bhutan.
The implementation of the agreement will also help promote, facilitate, expand and deepen trade relations with Bangladesh and be complementary to the Preferential Trade Agreement that came into effect from July 1, 2022.
The protocol will be transmitted to the National Council for deliberation.
Lyonpo Karma Dorji said that trade agreement was already there and this traffic-in-transit agreement will further improve the already existing trade routes. “Bhutan has already been doing trade with Bangladesh, which means entering to and exiting from Bangladesh was already there. But the route to pass was through India and now with this agreement, it will allow Bhutan an alternative transit route which will be an advantage to us.”
He said, “Transit via Bangladesh will mean that Bhutan will be able to export to other countries as we will be given access to Mongla, Payra, and Chattogram ports. Bangladesh has lots of connectivity with other countries and being a mass exporter, which means Bhutan can also benefit.”
Bangladesh has also given Bhutan access to its two Airport’s designated for imports and exports in Dhaka and Chittagong. Bhutan already has been using the road transport facilities of Bangladesh but with this agreement there are additional road and rail links.
He said “The agreement will be an advantage to Bhutan, in terms of trade with Bangladesh and other countries, allowing economic growth.”
