Rezaul Karim Bangladesh finalised a list of 35 products, for which the government would seek the facility of their duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) access to the Saudi market aiming to boost exports to that country and reduce the wide trade gap between the two, a high official of the ministry of commerce (MoC) said. The Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC) reduced the list of products to 35 from the earlier 65 and the list would be sent to the KSA through the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) within next 10 to 15 days, he also said. The decision was taken in an inter-ministerial meeting of the MoC Sunday with MoC Joint Secretary Shawkat Ali Waresi in the chair. The list was finalised and it would be sent to the KSA soon seeking the products' DFQF access to the Saudi market, Mr Shawkat Ali told the FE at his office. "We're attaching priority to increasing exports to the KSA from Bangladesh through the DFQF facility. We are going to frame a policy in this connection. But there remain a large number of non-tariff barriers to exporting Bangladeshi products to the KSA," he added. The products include frozen shrimps and fishes, vegetables, bakery items, footwear and leather goods, apparel items, home textiles, jute goods, betel nut, mineral water, alcohol-free drink, edible oil, sugar etc., according to the list Sources said Bangladesh sought the DFQF facility for its products in the ninth Joint Economic Commission meeting held in Riyadh in April 2008. The KSA then asked Bangladesh to submit the proposal through the GCC. "If the DFQF facility is granted, the existing large trade imbalance with the KSA will decline, because there is the potential of raising our exports to the country," he said. Another MoC official said Bangladesh's exports to the KSA were very meagre. Data shows that Bangladesh exported goods worth US$ 116.18 million to the KSA in the fiscal year (FY) 2010-11 when it imported goods worth $ 691.40 million from that country. Bangladesh mainly exports frozen food, knitwear, woven garments, agricultural products, jute and jute goods, and chemical and allied products to the KSA. On the other hand, it imports mineral fuels, mineral oils and products for their distillation, plastic products, chemical products, vegetable fat, base metal, prepared food stuff, cement, dates, and glassware. "The KSA is a big economy. It has a good scope to grant us the DFQF facility to help raise our exports there," the official added. More than 2.5 million Bangladeshi workers have worked in the KSA since the Gulf country opened its job market to Dhaka in 1976. Still more than 1.5 million Bangladeshi nationals are working in the KSA. Recently nearly 0.25 million Bangladeshi workers were legalised.
Dhaka to seek duty-free access of 35 products to Saudi market
FE Team | Published: October 11, 2013 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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