China is interested in importing mango, jackfruit, potato, leather and jute products from Bangladesh. Tapan Kanti Ghosh, the senior secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Yao Wen, the Chinese ambassador in Dhaka, gave this information.
They gave this information in a joint press conference organized in the meeting room of the Ministry of Commerce at the Secretariat on Thursday (March 28).
The press conference was organized to jointly exchange draft feasibility study report to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Bangladesh and China to increase trade and investment.
When the FTA can be signed – when asked by the journalists, the senior secretary said that the agreement has not yet been signed. Now the discussion will begin. It is better if the contract can be completed within the next three years. If not we have to continue the discussion. If the discussion is not over, I will ask him to give us these benefits as LDC.
Asked what kind of benefits Bangladesh will get as a result of the agreement, Tapan Kanti said, apart from ready-made garments, there are some other products among our main export products. When I was talking to the ambassador, he said that mangoes have a lot of potential. Jute products have a lot of potential. Then there is the matter of handicrafts.
He said there are more products out there. We are already exporting leather. We can export quality leather goods. 1.4 billion people in China. If we can take diversified products there, it can be a huge market. There is also a possibility of increasing investment once the deal is done.
Tapan Kanti Ghosh also said, We mainly export readymade garments. In FY 2022-23, we exported goods worth $677 million to China. On the contrary, 22.90 billion dollars have been imported from China.
In response to a question from journalists, Chinese ambassador Yao Wen said that China has a large investment in Bangladesh. Now China is the second largest investor in Bangladesh. Investments will increase after the signing of FTA. Bangladesh can export mangoes, jackfruit, potatoes, jute products, leather products to China.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce informed on the occasion that Bangladesh’s transition from a less developed country to a developing country is a significant achievement of the current government’s economic progress. This achievement will create a positive image of Bangladesh in the world and create new opportunities for investment and trade as well as create several challenges.
Among which LDCs lose tariff-free quota-free access to developed and developing countries after 2026 and rate of value addition. As a result, Bangladeshi exports will have to face normally imposed tariffs when entering the markets of those countries. There is a possibility of shrinking Bangladesh’s export market in those countries.
It was further informed by the Ministry of Commerce that, according to the eighth five-year plan of the government, the Ministry of Commerce has already taken the initiative to conclude regional trade agreements with various commercially important countries and trade blocs in order to preserve and expand the export market of Bangladesh in order to face the possible challenges after the LDC graduation of Bangladesh.
China is the world’s second largest economy and is an important trading partner of Bangladesh. A trade potential area for Bangladesh’s trade expansion in China. In addition to products, there is a possibility of developing Bangladesh’s relations with China in the service and investment sectors. In this context, with the aim of increasing trade and investment between Bangladesh and China, initiatives have been initially taken to sign a free trade agreement between the two countries.
As part of this initiative, during the visit of the President of China to Bangladesh on October 14-15, 2016, a memorandum of understanding was signed regarding the joint feasibility study of signing an FTA between Bangladesh and China.
As a next step in the implementation of the signed MoU, a working group was formed for the feasibility study of both the countries. In this context, the first meeting of the working group on conducting a joint feasibility study was held on June 20-21, 2018 in Beijing, the capital of China, with the aim of signing a possible Bangladesh-China Free Trade Agreement. Following this, the feasibility study management team prepared the draft feasibility study report.
Later, both countries prepared their respective parts of the Joint Feasibility Study Report, although no progress was made in this regard due to the Corona epidemic. As a result of which Bangladesh and China jointly exchanged the draft feasibility study report today.
MAS/MKR/GKS
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