This is the third bi-weekly bulletin for the period from August 4-17, 2023.

1. August 6, 2023 –  Bangladesh allows four transit routes to India

The Bangladesh government has approved 4 transit routes for the transportation of goods to Tripura and the North-Eastern states. Chittagong Port-Akhaura-Agartala, Mongla Port-Akhaura-Agartala, Chittagong-Bibirbazar-Srimantapur, and Mongla Port-Bibirbazar-Srimantapur are the four routes.

Bangladesh and India have agreed to allow Indian traders to ship products through the ports of Chittagong and Mongla. Chittagong Port is Bangladesh’s main seaport and manages over 90% of the country’s overseas commerce while the Mongla Port is the country’s second-largest seaport. India receiving access to these major ports opens up the landlocked northeastern states to the Bay of Bengal for commerce. 

Tripura has also planned to set up nine Border Haats for the promotion of trade at the local level. This decision will give a boost to India’s bilateral trade with Bangladesh and also to the economic linkages between North Eastern provinces and Bangladesh. There is expected to be an 80% reduction in transportation costs with the introduction of the notified routes between Tripura and Bangladesh. 

2. August 12, 2023 – Foxconn to invest an additional 400 million in Telangana

Taiwanese tech company Foxconn has made an additional commitment of $400 million taking the overall investment to $550 million as Foxconn had already made an investment of $150 million in Telangana. While reacting to the decision of Foxconn, the state IT Minister KT Rama Rao said:

“Our friendship with Foxconn Group remains steadfast, each of us delivering on mutual commitments,” Rama Rao wrote on X (previously called Twitter), “With a total investment of $550m (adding the previous $150m), FIT is poised to deliver on its promises in Telangana. This once again proves Telangana Speed.”

In May 2023, the foundation stone for Foxconn’s manufacturing facility was laid at Kongarakalan as part of its 500 million investment in the state which would enable the company to enhance its production capacity. 

Foxconn also has a presence in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The Taiwanese company is in the process of setting up a manufacturing plant along with a supplementary plant in Bengaluru, Karnataka as well for assembling and producing parts of iPhone products. The state government has already granted hundreds of acres of land for these plants that are set to produce thousands of jobs. 

3. August 12, 2023 – Direct flight between Kochi and Ho Chi Minh City

On Saturday, a direct flight service between Kerala’s Kochi to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam was launched from Cochin International Airport. The new service, launched by Vietnamese airline Vietjet, was announced after a meeting between the Vietnamese Ambassador to India, Nguyen Thanh Hai, and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on July 5.

The launching ceremony of the Kochi-flight service was attended by VietJet’s Vice President (Commercial) Jay L Lingeswara who remarked:

“The inaugural flights on this momentous day operated at full capacity. This signifies the growing demand for direct connectivity between Kochi and Vietnam. I am optimistic about expanding this connectivity by introducing additional flights from other Vietnam cities to the Kochi route, fostering stronger ties and facilitating seamless travel,”

The new direct service to Vietnam brings the total number of direct flights linking Kochi and South East Asia cities to 45.