# India and Bangladesh Sign Multimillion Bale Trade Agreement

Author: Jim.Robinson
Published: 2013-08-21
Canonical URL: https://www.cottongrower.com/cotton-news/india-and-bangladesh-sign-multimillion-bale-trade-agreement/

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India and Bangladesh are in the final stages of a trade agreement dictating purchase volume and collaboration expectations. The full details have not been released, but according to media reports, India has assured 2 million cotton bales (375 lb each) to Bangladesh for the 2013/14 cotton season.

India’s Union Minister of Textiles for India, Dr. K.S. Rao said, “In the 2013/14 cotton season, I have assured his Excellency \[Mr. Abdul Latif Siddique, minister of textiles, Bangladesh\] that Bangladesh textiles mills would not have any difficulties when sourcing cotton from India.”

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today by the textile secretaries of India and Bangladesh.
Important features of the MoU include:

1) textile sector collaboration,

2) cotton purchase agreement for Bangladesh textile mills, and

3) The establishment of a successor organization for the International Jute Study Group in Dhaka.

India and Bangladesh account for $50 billion of textile and apparel exports and produce more than 90% of the world’s production of jute and allied fibers. The new MoU is said to strengthen the bilateral textile relations between the two nations.