A team led by the Bhutan Exporters Association (BEA) will hold a meeting with representatives of at least 20 financial institutions in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The team is leaving for Dhaka today and they will start the meeting tomorrow.

Representatives from financial institutions from Bhutan will tag with BEA.

The meeting is to fasten banking transactions between Bhutanese exporters and importers in Bangladesh.

The general secretary with BEA, Tshering Yeshi, said Bhutanese exporters face a delay in payment after the delivery of consignments to Bangladesh.

“This is one of the major problems our exporters faced,” he said. “Exporters have approached us.”

Yeshi Tshering said about 20 financial institutions in Bangladesh have business transactions with banks in Bhutan.

BEA and the team would meet with officials from the financial institutions, who are associated with foreign transactions to sort out the problem of delayed payment.

The BEA general secretary said tomorrow’s meeting was made possible with the support from the Bhutanese embassy in Dhaka and the department of trade in Bhutan.

The meeting that would conclude on March 30 would be the second time the association is assisting exporters in regards to banking constraints.

In October 2013, BEA had initiated a banking sub-committee between Bhutan and Bangladesh, comprising officials from financial institutions and central banks from both the countries. Economic affairs ministry from Bhutan and Bangladesh commerce ministry were also part of the committee.

“All the issues raised at that time have been resolved,” Tshering Yeshi said.

After the meeting in 2013, the committee has not met.

Minerals contribute Bhutan’s major chunk of export to Bangladesh. In 2016, Bhutan exported about 0.423 million (M) metric tonnes (MT) worth USD 10.587M.

This is an increase from 0.342M metric tonnes minerals worth USD 10.806M in 2015.

Dolomite lumps, dolomite powder, plaster of Paris, stone chips and boulders are some of the major minerals Bhutan export to Bangladesh.

Rajesh Rai | Phuentsholing

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