A free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Bangladesh can increase Bangladesh's exports to India by 182 percent and by 126 percent the other way round, a new World Bank report said.

Improving connectivity could take it even further, by 297 percent and 172 percent respectively, if added. The border could be made irrelevant from a trade perspective by removing the barriers. 

The report, titled "Connecting to Thrive: Challenges and Opportunities of Transport Integration in eastern South Asia," was jointly released by the World Bank’s Dhaka and New Delhi offices on Monday.

Currently, the duo's average tariff was more than twice the world average, reported the Daily Star. “Complicated and non-transparent non-tariff measures, which are policy measures other than tariffs that affect the free flow of goods and services across borders, add to the high trade costs,” said the report.

The bilateral trade currently accounts for only about 10 percent of Bangladesh's trade and a mere 1 percent of India's trade.

It is about 15-20 percent less expensive for an Indian company to trade with a company in Brazil or Germany than with a company in Bangladesh, the report pointed out.