Bangladesh has sought the GSP Plus facility from United Kingdom, its third biggest trade partner, following Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Bangladesh’s Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed placed the call to visiting British MP Rushnara Ali, the UK Prime Minister’s trade envoy for Bangladesh, while the latter paid a courtesy call at the minister’s residential office on July 22, 2018. In return, Britain assured of taking steps towards expanding bilateral business.
“Britain is a close business ally of Bangladesh. We highly prioritise trade with UK. We are hoping that Bangladesh’s business with Britain will increase after Brexit. We are discussing the issue closely with UK,” Minister Tofail told journalists after the meeting.
“When Bangladesh graduates out of the least developed country (LDC) club, then it would get the GSP facility no more from UK, which was in play when Britain was within the European Union. That’s why Bangladesh is expecting GSP Plus facility from UK now,” he said.
After the meeting, Rushnara Ali told journalists, “British businessmen are willing to invest in Bangladesh. There’s a big demand of Bangladeshi products in Britain’s market. There is scope that we can expand the business between two countries. We will take necessary steps to facilitate bilateral trade between the two countries.”
United Kingdom remains as the third top destination for Bangladesh’s apparel exports, beating Brexit fears. In fiscal 2017-18, the total apparel exports to UK amounted to US $ 3.71 billion – a rise of 3.9 per cent from 2016-17’s US $ 3.57 billion.
