India's Meghalaya state Chief Minister Conrad Sangma yesterday welcomed the decision to open the Chittagong port to facilitate trade with India's Northeastern states, saying it will cut transportation cost and expose their goods to international markets.

Sangma said the decision will boost trade in the region and Meghalaya in particular, which shares a 443-km border with Bangladesh.

“This is a big step towards ensuring that we in the Northeast have port connectivity and accessibility,” Sangma said while addressing the sixth edition of the 'Young Leaders Connect' in Shillong.

The Chittagong port accessibility will reduce transportation cost for goods and allow exposure for northeastern states to international markets, he said.

The Bangladesh cabinet had earlier this month approved a draft agreement to allow northeastern states of India to use Chittagong and Mongla ports, primarily aimed at restoring pre-partition logistics for the entire northeast region. An agreement for this was inked by the Shipping Secretaries of India and Bangladesh at their meeting in New Delhi on October 25.

Sangma said increase in trade between India, Bangladesh and Myanmar is crucial for the

economic development of Meghalaya.

The Meghalaya government has said it will write to the Indian government to facilitate the setting up of more import-export points along the Bangladesh border.

Meghalya is rich in natural resources and offers excellent potential for export for agro-horticulture products, forest products, handloom and

handicrafts, a senior official of the state's Industries department said.