Finance
Bangladesh-Bhutan Bhutan-Bangladesh sign preferential trade agreement signed
Dhaka, December 7: Bangladesh and Bhutan have signed the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and Bhutan's Economic Affairs Minister Loknath Sharma signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries at a virtual ceremony on Sunday morning. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took part in the program through video conferencing from Ganobhaban.
Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F. Rahman, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotte Shering, Foreign Minister Tandy Darjeel and other senior officials were present on the occasion.
At the signing ceremony, the Prime Ministers of the two countries highlighted the historical and present friendly relations between Bangladesh and Bhutan and hoped that the agreement would further enhance the existing relations between the two countries and enhance mutual cooperation including trade and commerce.
It was informed at a press conference on Saturday that the two countries had signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) on the same day with Bhutan, which recognized Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign state on December 6, 1971 during the War of Liberation.
Since 2010, Bangladesh has been providing duty-free market access to Bhutan in 18 products. And 90 products of Bangladesh are getting duty free market facility in Bhutan. As Bhutan seeks duty-free access to some more products, talks begin on a "bilateral preferential trade agreement" between the two countries.
This was discussed during the visit of the Prime Minister of Bhutan to Bangladesh on 12-15 April 2019. Following this, a meeting was held between the two countries through video conference on 21-23 August of that year. The second meeting was held on June 19. In the light of these meetings, the cabinet approved the draft trade agreement last September.
As a result of this agreement, 100 products of Bangladesh will be duty free in Bhutan and 34 products of Bhutan will be duty free in Bangladesh. Importing stones from Bhutan under duty free facility will reduce the cost of construction materials for Bangladesh, which will help in the development of the construction sector. In addition, it will be easier to import raw materials for agricultural processing products at low prices. The issue of bringing stones was raised more than once in the press conference.
