Sub-Regional Cooperation between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh: Trade, Investment and Connectivity - Tapa dura

Bangladesh and Myanmar are two of the most important potential economic partners for India, but there are non-trade issues such as connectivity, investments, infrastructure, deficiencies in logistics, lack of technical capacity, etc., which have not allowed this potential to materialise. This volume is an excellent effort by people, who are fully conversant with the realities of governance and sectoral complexities on all sides and therefore, an excellent attempt at analysing problems and providing potential solutions.'- Rajeev Kher, Former Commerce Secretary, Government of India. 'In recent years, there has been considerable interest in Indian policy circles to further regional cooperation with India's immediate neighbours in the East. However, relatively little is known about the constraints and challenges to India's Act East policy. This excellent book, edited by well-known academics in the field, brings together important contributions by scholars working in this area. The book is essential reading for academics and policymakers alike.'- Kunal Sen, Professor, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK. 'The concept of greater integration among Bangladesh, Myanmar and the North-Eastern states of India in areas of trade, investment and connectivity although politically challenging, is worth pursuing, especially in view of the fact that this region, one of the least integrated in the world, is home to some of the poorest people on earth. The collection of essays, each of which is a painstaking research work by renowned scholars in their respective fields, is a commendable work. It rightly deserves a wide readership, especially in the region the essays sought to cover.'- Ali Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer, Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI).

The economic and political changes in Myanmar over the last two years along with the Modi government's `Look East' economic policy recognise the tremendous need for integrating one of the least developed region of South Asia namely India's north eastern states, Bangladesh, and Myanmar who share borders with each other. The book explores how greater trade in the sub-region can be a vehicle for economic integration and raise living standards for its people. It also analyses the challenges of non-trade issues such as connectivity, investments, infrastructure, deficiencies in logistics, lack of technical capacity, etc., which act as hindrances to economic cooperation as well as integration. The book is the research collaboration of scholars from leading institutions of India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh to analyse important aspects of economic integration and cooperation from the perspective of each of these countries so as to overcome the challenges that act as a deterrent to poverty eradication in the sub region. The initiative was funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented by the Indian Council for Research on International Economics Relations (ICRIER).