DHAKA: Pakistani onion would be placed in Bangladesh market after almost 15 years, as onion exports have begun to Bangladesh following a ban imposed by Indian government on onion exports, an official at Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) said.

“Bangladesh’s Tasho Enterprise has finalized deals with a Pakistani company Roshan Enterprise Karachi, and 12 containers of onion are being exported to Bangladesh, and more would follow” the official said.

Since India has recently announced a ban on exports of onions due to shortage amidst floods, the prices of onions in Bangladesh have surged to new heights, as the market was heavily dependent on Indian supply.

Bangladesh is now looking for import options from other countries like Turkey, Myanmar and Egypt to meet the demand in the local market.

“In Bangladesh, annually around 80 percent onion was being imported from India. This has created market potential for Pakistan. In this context, the Commercial Secretary had a telephonic conversation followed by a meeting with President Bangladesh Fruit & Vegetable Exporters/Importers Association. During the Salim Ul Haq Essa was convinced to imports onion from Pakistan,” the official said.

The official informed that Bangladesh was also considering importing dates, grey fabric and yarn from Pakistani companies.

According to a report prepared by Commercial Wing of Pakistan’s High commission in Dhaka, trade diplomacy between the two countries has generally remained stalled after the BNP’s last tenure of 15th July 2001 to 10th October 2006. For instance, holding of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) between Pakistan and Bangladesh is long over-due. It may be noted that the last JEC meeting was held in 2005 during the BNP-government in Bangladesh.

Moreover, most of the trade diplomacy and major bilateral agreements were made during the BNP governments and negligible work has been done during the Awami League governments. Awami League has been in power now for around 10 consecutive years.

Bangladesh is a very important export destination for Pakistani products ranking amongst top destinations globally and 2^nd in Asia after China, despite the hostile environment under the Awami League government in Bangladesh.

During the current year, Pakistani exports to the market have generally slowed down, owing to non-availability of PIA flights between Karachi and Dhaka.