The government has completed separate feasibility studies on Morocco and Algeria intending to sign Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the North African countries, sources said.
To this end, the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) has recently submitted the reports to determine the next steps.
The African bloc, including Morocco and Algeria, represents a huge potential market for Bangladesh in terms of trade and business, according to a document.
The commerce ministry is currently working to sign FTAs with more than two dozen countries. It so far has signed the lone PTA with Bhutan, which came into effect on 1 July 2022.
"Feasibility study comes first. Then we can decide on a deal. In fact, we will sign an FTA or PTA with a country only when it is financially and economically viable for our country," said a commerce ministy official.
A bilateral free trade or preferential trade pact is a matter for negotiation between two countries. The aims of FTAs are to achieve zero tariffs between the two signatory countries and reduce trade barriers. No country will agree to a deal if it goes against its interests.
A senior commerce ministry official admitted that progress on negotiating bilateral FTAs with some countries is slow.
The government is working sincerely on FTA and PTA issues but progress is slow due to delays by potential partner countries, according to the official.
Signing FTAs with some countries may not be feasible for Bangladesh as it could cause a heavy revenue losses, according to trade officials.
The process of signing FTAs with some countries is currently at the negotiating stage.
Discussions are underway to sign FTAs with Indonesia, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Thailand, Malaysia, China, Turkey, APTA, ASEAN, Australia, the GCC, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, MERCOSUR (The Southern Common Market) and Singapore.
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