Bangladesh
The government of Bangladesh has already taken up its desire to join the Trans Pacific Partnership talks through its embassy in Washington
Bangladesh has criticised the decision by the United States to cut trade privileges in the wake of a deadly garment factory collapse, insisting it had taken concrete action to improve safety.
President Barack Obama cut off long-time US trade benefits for Bangladesh on Thursday in a mostly symbolic response to conditions in the country’s garment industry that have cost more than 1,200 lives in the past year.
With the Cabinet’s nod to give it a go ahead, the proposed Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) between Bangladesh and the USA is almost through, awaiting to be signed at a convenient time by the two governments.
Bangladesh says it is ready to start discussions with Sri Lanka to strike a Free Trade Agreement between the two nations to improve two way trade, announced the Island’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
Bangladesh has decided to re-assess the necessity and possible benefits of signing a Free Trade Area accord with Turkey, official sources said.
Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India rose nearly 20 per cent to more than US$ 4.50 billion in the fiscal year (FY) 2011-12 following reduction of sensitive lists by the relevant authorities in both the countries in late 2011.
Turkey is offering to pursue a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Bangladesh, but the two sides have not taken a potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA) off the table, officials said at a recent meeting of top economic officials here.
Signed with much fanfare, an Indo-Bangladesh deal on further trade between two countries is yet to take off
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Finance has opposed the move of striking an agreement on bilateral Free Trade Area with Malaysia fearing the proposed deal, if signed, would only increase the trade deficit for Bangladesh.
Malaysia and Bangladesh are expected to commence negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) in the near future, said Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia, A.K.M. Atiqur Rahman.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and chief ministers of eastern and northeastern states will push for a thaw in relations with Bangladesh by talking trade next week. And trade with Bangladesh invariably means textiles.
Bangladesh has sought duty-free access of all its products to the Indian market to bring down the trade gap between the two neighbouring countries, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said.
Dhaka is moving ahead steadily to sign an accord on a bilateral Free Trade Area (FTA) with Kuala Lumpur as the ministry of commerce (MoC) has recently sent its "well-guarded position", containing a template on the proposed FTA to the Malaysian government, a top ministry official said.
In Bangladesh, the Prime Minister’s Office has asked the ministry of commerce to expedite the process of negotiations with the United States to finalise the proposed Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum deal immediately, sources said.
Disagreement on the issue of workers’ union in EPZs is standing in the way of Bangladesh signing the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) with the US, according to the commerce minister.
Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC) has given a positive signal to the government in striking a bilateral Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement with Malaysia, saying, the proposed deal will boost the country’s export of goods and manpower substantially in Malaysia and encourage latter’s investment in Bangladesh significantly.
Bangladesh hopes to sign a free trade agreement with India this year, its Commerce Secretary Md Ghulam Hussain said here.
A draft guideline prepared on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has strongly suggested against striking FTAs with developed countries, but the same has encouraged similar deals with the countries having demand for Bangladeshi manpower, official sources said.
Trade between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will grow due to the vast opportunities in both countries to expand business, said High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Mahbub Uz Zamman.
