Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are opening negotiations on a major economic-cooperation deal for expanding bilateral trade and investment, as Dhaka ramps up the country's forthcoming LDC-graduation preparation.
A 20-member high-powered Bangladesh delegation is set to leave for Abu Dhabi today (Sunday) to participate in the first round of negotiations on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the wealthy Gulf Arab country.
Ayesha Akther, additional secretary of the commerce ministry, leads the team for the negation that starts tomorrow (Monday) and continues until May 13, 2026.
Key agenda issues of talks include trade in goods and services, investment cooperation, and customs facilitation between the two countries.
Besides, labour market for Bangladeshi workers, fuel-import issue are also expected to receive priority in discussion.
A senior official of the ministry says Bangladesh would sign CEPA with the UAE separately as agreement with The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a time-consuming matter.
He hopes the agreement will offset possible post-graduation shocks as Bangladesh is going to graduate from the least-developed country (LDC) club of the world in the near future.
"Bangladesh has been accelerating efforts to sign preferential and free-trade arrangements with major trading partners to retain export competitiveness in the post-LDC era," he also adds. So far, Bangladesh has signed three trade agreements under preferential or free-trade frameworks. These include the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Bhutan, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan and the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) between Bangladesh and the United States.
In addition, Bangladesh is currently negotiating free-trade agreements (FTAs) or CEPAs with several countries and blocs, including the EU, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Eurasian Economic Union. Officials believe the proposed CEPA with the United Arab Emirates could help diversify Bangladesh's export basket, attract Gulf investments, and strengthen manpower export to the Middle-Eastern nation.
rezamumu@gmail.com
