Commerce minister outlines plan to expand regional trade through PTAs, CEPA

Bangla Press Desk:   The government has undertaken a series of initiatives to expand intra-regional trade among SAARC member countries by removing non-tariff barriers, reducing sensitive lists, lowering tariffs and pursuing bilateral trade agreements, Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir told parliament on Thursday.

Responding to a written question from ruling party lawmaker Selina Sultana (women seat-35) in the House on Thursday, the minister said the measures are aimed at reducing Bangladesh’s trade deficit and strengthening regional economic cooperation. The day’s sitting began with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad in the chair.

“The government has continued efforts to remove existing non-tariff barriers to Bangladesh’s exports in SAARC markets alongside reducing sensitive lists and lowering tariffs,” he said.He said Bangladesh is also holding regular meetings at the commerce secretary and working group levels with different SAARC countries to expand bilateral trade and resolve trade-related issues.

The minister said Bangladesh has taken initiatives to conclude Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) with SAARC member states to boost bilateral trade.

Regarding Bhutan, he said Bangladesh hosted the 10th commerce secretary-level meeting in Dhaka on 9-10 March this year to enhance bilateral trade cooperation, remove existing trade barriers and strengthen collaboration between the two neighbouring countries.

“The first meeting of the Joint Trade Committee under the Bangladesh-Bhutan Preferential Trade Agreement will be held in Dhaka shortly to facilitate effective implementation of the agreement, remove implementation bottlenecks and identify new areas of cooperation,” he said.

On trade relations with India, Muktadir said Bangladesh has been enjoying duty-free market access for least developed countries under the SAFTA and APTA frameworks.

He said the two countries had agreed in 2018 to conduct a feasibility study for signing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), covering trade in goods, services and investment.

“Following the recommendations of the joint feasibility study, the Bangladesh-India summit on 6 September 2022 decided to launch CEPA negotiations. As part of the process, both sides exchanged trade data on 20 February 2024 to facilitate formal negotiations,” he added.

The minister said Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have already completed three rounds of negotiations on a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and exchanged request lists, while preparations are underway for the fourth meeting of the Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC), where the Margin of Preference (MoP) and offer lists are expected to be finalised.

He said Bangladesh and Nepal have completed three rounds of negotiations on a PTA, while Bangladesh is maintaining regular communication with Nepal to hold the fourth round of negotiations.

Highlighting the progress achieved so far, Muktadir said SAARC member countries have already reduced their sensitive lists by 20% in the second phase under the SAFTA process, effective from 1 January 2012, while work is continuing to further reduce the lists in the third phase.

He said India has granted duty-free market access to all products from least developed SAARC countries, including Bangladesh, except tobacco and narcotic products, contributing to higher Bangladeshi exports to India and other SAARC markets.

The minister also informed the House that under the Bangladesh-Bhutan Preferential Trade Agreement, 100 Bangladeshi products now enjoy duty-free access to the Bhutanese market, while 34 Bhutanese products receive duty-free access to the Bangladesh market.