Signing and executing transit-and preferential-trade deals with Bhutan and Nepal gets top priority from Bangladesh at upcoming cooperation talks with the two Himalayan nations, officials say.
With Bhutan Bangladesh has already got transit deal and Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), and Dhaka now presses ahead doing spadework for operational modus operandi to be declared from April talks.
"Removal of tariff-and non-tariff barriers to trade and various bilateral and regional issues will also be discussed in the two meetings," says one commerce official.
The seventh Bangladesh-Nepal commerce secretaries' meeting is slated for April 18-19 in Kathmandu. There, the two sides may finalise the list of products for the PTA and discuss the possibility of signing the agreement.
In the meantime, Bangladesh and Bhutan signed the 'Agreement on the Movement of Traffic-in-Transit and Protocol' in March 2023. Bangladesh's Cabinet Division ratified the deal in June 2023, and Bhutan proposed its implementation from March 2024.
However, officials have said, the unresolved issue of transit fees remains a sticking point.
The Ministry of Commerce has recently requested the Road Transport and Highways Division to expedite the fixing of these fees to facilitate the operationalisation of the deal.
Also, officials stressed trial runs of vehicles before regular operations commence. Besides, routes for cargo transit have yet to be determined.
Officials have said the April 24-25 commerce secretary-level meeting with Bhutan will focus on working out operational procedures for the transit agreement.
Moreover, the meeting will review the effectiveness of the Bangladesh-Bhutan PTA, signed in December 2020 and given effect in July 2022.
This will be the first bilateral commerce secretary-level meeting since the signing of both the PTA and the transit deal.
In recent years, Bangladesh has offered both Nepal and Bhutan access to its seaports and airports for their international trade. Officials have confirmed that Nepal has already used Mongla port for some import cargos.
Bangladesh also has given transit facilities to its next-door-neighbour India with which there rail, road and water connectivity apart from air links.
And all four nations have sub-regional cooperation deals on trade and trans-border vehicle movements.
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