The Commerce Ministry is likely to sit on Tuesday to discuss a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) sent by China for further enhancing bilateral relations between the two nations, a source said.
The meeting will mainly discuss the MoU including the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
It is likely to be held at the commerce ministry with Commerce Secretary Md Selim Uddin in the chair, he added. Dhaka and Beijing have already handed over draft joint feasibility-study reports on each other on the FTA between them.
Such FTA is aimed at enhancing bilateral trade and also offsetting the post-graduation shocks to Bangladesh, according to the source. Conducting the joint study between Bangladesh and China is a high-level decision, says the source.
The FTA will be a major instrument in reducing trade imbalance between the two countries.
Experts say products of both nations will enjoy tax benefits under the FTA facility. They hope the FTA will help diversify products as well as increase investment in Bangladesh.
At present, the volume of annual bilateral trade is worth $21 billion with China's exports accounting for nearly $19 billion. China offered Bangladeshi goods duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) access for 98 per cent of Chinese tariff lines from 10 September 2022.
Earlier, it was 97 per cent.
As a result, 8,930 products originating from Bangladesh have been enjoying DFQF access to China, the world's second-largest economy from September 2022.
Bangladesh enjoyed the benefit for 8,256 products under 97-per cent tariff lines from July 2020 to August 2022.
rezamumu@gmail.com
Commerce ministry meeting on FTA with China on Tuesday
FE Report | Published: June 22, 2024 23:04:09
Commerce ministry meeting on FTA with China on Tuesday
Share if you like