Dhaka to seek duty-free facility to Russian market in July

Talha Bin Habib | Published: May 08, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

Bangladesh will seek duty-free market access of its products to Russia when a high- powered official delegation visits that country in July next, officials said.
The commerce minister Tofail Ahmed will lead the Bangladesh delegation, the officials added. Â
Products, mainly ready made garment (RMG), pharmaceuticals, leather and leather goods, jute and jute goods and shrimp, will get top priority for discussion with the Putin administration for duty-free market access to Russia.Â Â
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are the members of the customs union and officials said if any country allows Bangladesh duty free facility, other countries will follow suit.
The country has separately applied Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan for allowing duty free market access of its products. It has also applied to the customs union (Eurasian Customs Union) to get duty free market access.
If Bangladesh gets duty free market access from Russia then it will get the same preference from the Belarus and Kazakhstan, which will help increase the country's export significantly, an export promotion bureau (EPB) official said.Â Â
"We have applied to the customs union and the three countries separately for duty-free market access of our products," senior secretary of the ministry of commerce (MoC) Mahbub Ahmed told the FE.
He also said the ministry is working on forming the Joint Trade Commission (JTC) with Russia.
A 14-member trade delegation, led by the senior secretary of the MoC, visited Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Kazakhstan last year to explore export potentials of Bangladeshi products.
Bangladesh and Russia have the opportunity to increase their mutual trade to a significant level considering the existing business potential, business leaders say.
Russian Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade Yuri Slyusar at a meeting with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) last year said Russia wants to augment bilateral trade with Bangladesh to US$ 1.0 billion within a few years.
Bangladesh is dependent on a few markers for export of its products. To reduce the dependency, it is necessary to reach new markets with new products.
The present trade volume between Bangladesh and Russia is around $ 543.59 million, and the balance is tilted towards Russia.
Bangladesh imported goods worth US$ 335.30 million from Russia and exported $ 208.29 million worth of products during the fiscal year 2012-13, EPB data showed.