A Government committee has suggested Bangladesh needs to gear up to sign free trade agreements (FTAs) with at least seven major trading partners before 2026 in addition to negotiations at global and regional platforms, so as to overcome immediate shocks after graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category status.
Media reports maintained this adding the suggestion was, reportedly, made by the sub-committee on Preferential Market Access and Trade Agreement as part of a strategy even if it, reportedly, recommended Bangladesh sign FTAs with China, India, South Korea, Canada, Japan, Russia and Australia before 2026 even if negotiations are underway with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and EU to get existing trade benefits extended beyond LDC graduation.
The sub-committee further, reportedly, stressed on the need for extensive groundwork for negotiating ‘new generation FTAs’ which in addition to goods, would include issues like labour, trade in services, investment and Government procurement to effectively engage with developing and developed countries with varied interests.
