Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Wednesday said the Centre has approved two border haats for the state.

Inaugurating an event on Wednesday afternoon here, Deb said the border haats play a crucial role in the developing relationship between the two countries, as the people from both come together at the haats.“The special secretary of the director, industries and commerce, Kiran Gitte, told me that permission has come from the Centre to set up the border haats at Ragna village of Dharmanagar in North district and Kamalpur in Dhalai district. Border haats will help develop the relationship between India and Bangladesh and boost business. We want mutual cooperation for the development of the neighbouring country and for Tripura,” Deb said.

At present, Tripura has two functional border haats, one at Kamalasagar in Sepahijala district and another at Srinagar in Sabroom subdivision in South Tripura district.

Deb added that on Tuesday he attended an Indi Bangladesh stakeholders meeting in Guwahati and was surprised to see Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal recommending the development of Tripura. “This is for the first time a chief minister has spoken about other states for a long time. I am thankful to him for giving importance to Tripura,” Deb said.

Deb added that the commerce minister of Bangladesh, Tipu Munshi, and economic adviser to the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Mashiur Rahman, also spoke of the development of the state.

“I spoke to the commerce minister of Bangladesh and economic adviser to the Bangladesh Prime Minister that at present, border trade is happening through Petrapole and Benapole in Bengal, whereas Tripura is more accessible for Bangladesh. All are Indian borders then why not through the northeastern borders? I have requested to them to enlist Tripura as an export point and to increase the volume of exports through the state. Not only Tripura but Bangladesh is also going to benefit,” he said.

Deb said almost 90 per cent businessmen from Bangladesh, who participated in Tuesday’s stakeholders’ meet in Guwahati, expressed their interest to set up industries in the proposed special economic zone in Sabroom of South district, around 130km from here.Bangladeshi businessmen are ready to invest money in the state. Such initiatives will develop the state. The state government will take a series of initiatives soon to develop the state and boost trade. Now traders are coming from various places to invest in Tripura and to set up factories, high-rise buildings and hence, more employment will be generated,” Deb said.