Dhaka set to revive FTA talks with Ankara in Mar

Dhaka is set to revive talks with Ankara regarding signing of a free trade area (FTA) deal which was virtually put on hold for months following a diplomatic rift centering war crimes trial, officials said.
A Turkish delegation comprising officials from its ministry of economy is scheduled to visit Bangladesh next month to discuss signing of the proposed pact, they added.
"Turkish officials had invited us to visit Ankara for the talks, but we decide to host this round of negotiation in Dhaka. The last round of talks was held in Ankara," a senior trade official told the FE.
In mid-May last year, Turkish ambassador to Dhaka Devrim Öztürk left the country following execution of a Jamaat Islami leader Motiur Rahman Nizami. Before that, Turkey on several occasions strongly condemned the executions. However, the ambassador came back to Dhaka three months later in August last year.
A senior official at the ministry of commerce (MoC) told the FE Friday over phone that Bangladesh is very much positive in signing FTA deal with several countries including Turkey, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Myanmar.
"If we can get duty-free access to Turkey, our exports to the Eurasian country will increase manifold," he said adding that apparel exports have a significant potential to grow there.
Replying to another query, he said Bangladesh has reservation in signing FTA with China and India since a study by Bangladesh Tariff Commission finds opening of the market for these developing countries will be disastrous both in terms of revenue as well as for local industries.
According to trade officials, Dhaka for the first time opted for signing FTA deal with Ankara following imposition of 17 per cent additional duty on import of textile and garment items from Bangladesh in June 2012. Other Bangladeshi exports enjoy zero-duty benefit in the Turkish market.  
In calendar year 2013, Bangladesh's export to Turkey crossed US$1.0 billion while import was $195 million. However, as 17 per cent duty was slapped on apparel, Dhaka's export to Turkey dropped to $767 million in the following year.
The officials said apparel products account for over 75 per cent of Bangladesh's total export to Turkey. Imposition of additional duty came as a serious blow to Bangladesh's apparel export to Turkey.
They said in the last talks on FTA deal, Turkey proposed that both the parties would open 50 per cent tariff lines of agriculture products and 100 per cent tariff lines of industrial products under the agreement. Once opened, these products of both countries will be able to enter each other's market without paying any duty.
But the Bangladesh Tariff Commission opined for opening 50 per cent of agricultural tariff lines and 80 per cent of industrial products in FTA with Turkey.
However, businesses are of the opinion to open 50 per cent of industrial tariff lines and 80 per cent tariff lines of agriculture products.
Officials also said Turkey has proposed that both sides aim to achieve a comprehensive and high-level FTA being consistent with relevant provisions of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) agreement, in particular Article XXIV of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade).
It also proposed that no non-tariff and para-tariff barriers should remain for products of both countries while entering each other's market. The Turkish side wants signing of a full-fledged FTA both for goods, services, and investment. They also want both the countries to follow environmental requirements and relevant rules of the International Labour Organisation to ensure labour rights in factories.
Another senior MoC official told the FE earlier Bangladesh wants to move forward towards future deals taking into consideration its graduation to lower middle-income country.
"We are taking necessary preparations so that such bilateral FTAs can help when we lose zero tariff facilities after graduating to next stage," he said.
Bangladesh's major exports to Turkey include apparels and clothing accessories, textile yarn and related products, non-metallic mineral products, tobacco and tobacco manufactures, and leather and leather goods.
On the other hand, Bangladesh's imports from Turkey include edible vegetable and certain roots, salt, sulphur, earths and stone, plastering materials, lime, cement, products of chemical and allied industries, plastic and articles thereof, cotton, cotton yarn, and cotton fabrics, iron and steel.
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