A recent news conference, the Senior Secretary for the Commerce Ministry, Tapan Kanti Ghosh and Yao Wen, the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, Yao Wen, announced China’s intention to import mango or jackfruit as well as potatoes from Bangladesh. The announcement took place amid discussions about a feasibility report on the possibility of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Bangladesh and China that aims to boost trade and investment between both countries.

The event, which featured representatives of the highest rank from both countries, stressed the importance of Bangladesh’s transformation to become a Least Developed Country (LDC) into a developing country, in the words of Ghosh. Ghosh emphasized that although the transition brings potential for trade and investment however, it also creates issues, like losing duty-free and quota-free access to the markets that developed and developing nations enjoy after 2026. Ghosh said that the suggested FTA can be an essential mechanism to improve the prospects for exports of Bangladeshi products in the face of these issues.

Discussions about the FTA started in the context of the visit by the president of China to Bangladesh in October of 2016, making a huge step toward strengthening bilateral trade relations between both nations.

Source: risingbd.com