Exporting form West Bengal: A Trader’s Nightmare

Pohit, Sanjib (2007): Exporting form West Bengal: A Trader’s Nightmare.

Abstract

The share of exports from West Bengal in India’s overall export is about 6 percent. The present objective of the West Bengal government is to increase it to more than 10%. To meet this objective, obviously efforts are needed on many fronts. The diversification of exports basket, identification of new products, identifying new markets, improving packaging facilities within the states, developing special economic zones, etc are some of the means that the state of West Bengal seem to emphasise in her policy directions. However, one thing that does not seem to figure in the policy framework of West Bengal’s government is to increase facility for the expansion of exports to Bangladesh/Nepal. This is despite the fact that large and vibrant informal trade between India-Bangladesh or India-Nepal continues to thrive in these three countries and the borders of West Bengal are the major routes for these kind of operation. Since the origin of the goods of most of this trade is West Bengal, a logical step should be to bring this informal trade into formal channel as a first step towards increasing the state’s share of exports. It has been argued here that this kind of trade persist due to a host of factors such as, complex customs procedures, capacity constraints and/or corruption at the border. Given the fact it is easier to exports to Bangladesh than any other South Asian countries/Europe due to not-so-strict standard, the focus area of exports of West Bengal, it makes sense to create the right environment for exporting to Bangladesh/Nepal. In this context, this paper attempts to analyse the shortcoming of trade facilitation measures in India-Bangladesh border.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Trade, Transaction Cost, India, Bangladesh
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F14 - Empirical Studies of Trade

References

1. Anderson, James E. and Wincoop, Eric Van (2001) “Borders, Trade and Welfare”. National Bureau of Economic Research, working paper # W8515, October.

2. Bougheas, Spiros, P.O. Demetrades, and E.L.W. Morgenroth (1999) “Infrastructure, Costs and Trade”. Journal of Development Economics 47.

3. Chaudhari, S.K. (1995) “Cross Border Trade between India and Bangladesh”. National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi, working paper # 58.

4. Chow, Garland and J.J. McRae (1989) “Nontariff Barriers and the Structure of the U.S.-Canadian (Transborder) Trucking Industry”. Transportation Journal 30(2):4-21.

5. Cudmore, Edgar and Whalley, John (2003) “Border Delays and Trade Liberalisation,” National Bureau of Economic Research, working paper # W9485, February.

6. Das, Samantak and Pohit, Sanjib (2004) “Quantifying the Transport, Regulatory nd Other Costs of Indian Overland Exports to Bangladesh,” NCAER working paper.

7. Exim Bank of India (1999) “Transaction Costs of Indian Exports: An Analysis”. Working paper # 104.

8. Hummels, David (2001) “Time as a Trade Barrier”. Working paper, Purdue University, July 2001.

9. Lin, J. Y. and Nugent, J.B (1995) “Institutions and Economic Development” in Handbook of Development Economics, Volume III, Edited by J. Behrman and T.N. Srinivasan.

10. Pohit, Sanjib and Taneja, Nisha (2000) “India's Informal Trade with Bangladesh and Nepal: A Qualitative Assessment”. Working Paper # 58, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi, July.

11. Pohit, Sanjib and Taneja, Nisha (2003) “India’s Informal Trade with Bangladesh: A Qualitative Assessment”, 2003, Co-author, The World Economy, Vol.26, No. 8, pp. 1187-1214.

12. Subramanian, Uma and Arnold, John (2001) “Forging Subregional Links in Transport and Logistics in South Asia”. The World Bank, Washington, D.C., January.

13. Subramanian, Uma (1999) “South Asia Transport: Issues and Options”. Paper presented at the World Bank/ESCAP Regional Technical Workshop on Transport and Transit Facilitation, Bangkok, April.