Bangladesh and India will jointly identify locations for setting up six more border haats by next March, an official said.
Four border haats are currently in operation in Kurigram, Brahmanbaria, Sunamganj and Feni frontiers.
"The two countries will select the spots to set up six more border haats by next March," additional secretary of commerce ministry Md Shafiqul Islam told the FE.
After selecting the spots, he said, the officials of the two neighbours will carry out joint inspection by June next year.
After inspection, work on the construction of the facilities will be completed by December 2019.
The ministry concerned said officials of the two countries recently held a meeting in Agartala, the capital of Tripura, on the issue.
The proposed haats aside, the construction for six others is also ongoing-one in Mymensingh, two in Sunamganj, one in Sylhet and two in Moulvibazar.
Such haats are built on the zero line of the border. India bears the cost for building the structures.
Around 50 to 70 traders from Bangladesh and India could sell their products at the sites.
Similarly, a limited number of consumers from both the countries could visit the haats to buy their daily necessities.
Inhabitants living within the five-kilometre radius of the respective border belts could visit the haats for selling goods or purchasing produce.
These haats help improve the socio-economic life of the people living across borders and also curb smuggling.
The official said local people, including district chambers of the four functional border haats, sat in a meeting in Brahmanbaria recently.
They suggested increasing the number of border haats to reap the benefits of such arrangements.
