BD-Nepal commerce secy-level meet today

Munima Sultana | Published: May 10, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Bangladesh and Nepal are likely to sign deal to provide preferential trade and duty-free access facilities to each other.
The commerce secretaries of the two neighbouring countries are meeting in Dhaka today (Tuesday) to fisnalise the list of products, which will get the facilities, for signing the agreement.
Sources said a list of 108 Nepali products and 55 Bangladeshi goods was prepared for easy market access facility during the joint secretary-level meeting, held in Nepal in last June.
The Bangladesh-Nepal secretary-level meeting is being held after three years amid a changing scenario of regional and sub-regional cooperation following signing of Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) by four south Asian countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN).
An 11-member Nepali delegation, led by the country's Commerce Secretary Naindra Upadhyaya, will negotiate the unresolved issues with Bangladesh delegation in two days.
A Bangladesh delegation, consisting of representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, road transport and bridges, civil aviation and tourism, and revenue board, will attend the meeting.
The sources also said the two sides are also likely to sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on technical barriers to trade (TBT) as well as sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures during the meeting.
The MoUs will focus on giving recognition to quality of certificates of each other's products along with quality of agriculture products.Besides, launching of Dhaka-Kathmandu bus service and an investment proposal of Bangladesh in Nepal's hydropower sector will also be discussed.
An official concerned said though the issue of transit through India is yet to be resolved, launching of the bus service will be an important agenda of the meeting, following signing of MVA by the four south Asian countries.
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