Striking FTA with Latin American bloc seems on backburner

Striking a much-needed free-trade agreement (FTA) with a potential Latin American bloc encoded Mercosur apparently lacks pace and the chance of a top-level push is missed.
Sources say there had been a perceived lukewarm response from the Southern Common Market towards signing the trade deal. Although the government has since long made the initiative to sign deal with the union for boosting trade, no 'significant response' is seen from the largest community.
Bangladesh is on course to graduate from its least-developed country (LDC) status in 2026. Many developed countries will not continue duty-free facility in the post-LDC era, says an official.
Long ago, commerce ministry conducted a feasibility study by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC).
A senior official says the authorities concerned cannot walk faster to sign FTA/PTA [preferential trade agreement] with any country if the expected country shows interest.
Prime Mister Sheikh Hasina earlier had emphasized signing PTA or FTA with Brazil and three other MERCOSUR countries.
The matter of trade deal was supposed to be discussed during her Brazil visit. But the visit was postponed because of "unavoidable situation" at home. The PM's Spain trip was also put off, apparently in the wake of the quota-protest unrest.
"The commerce ministry plans to offer proposal to the bloc (Brazil) for starting FTA negotiations. It already has asked the BTTC to provide its opinion," says a source.
The government is trying to import necessary items from Brazil, a key country in the South American grouping, for sale among 10 million families through the state trading wing TCB.
Besides, it is also scrutinizing option to import beef from Brazil to supply such meat to the overheated local market at affordable prices.
Major export items from Bangladesh to Brazil are knitwear, woven garments, textile fibres, vegetables etc.
According to a document, Bangladesh is strongly negotiating with the MERCOSUR countries to have a footprint on the market which is considered having the potential to accelerate the overall export of Bangladesh onto a new high, as mentioned in the communication.
MERCOSUR is a regional integration process, initially established by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and subsequently joined by Venezuela and Bolivia- -the latter still complying with the accession procedure.
The grouping has a population of 295 million among its full member states. It is the fifth-largest economy in the world.

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