By Elishya Perera
DHAKA, Bangladesh (CWBN)_ Bangladesh recently signed its maiden Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Bhutan, which will boost bilateral trade between the two countries.
Commerce minister Tipu Munshi and Bhutanese economic affairs minister Lyonpo Loknath Sharma signed the agreement, while Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Bhutanese counterpart Lotay Tshering witnessed the signing ceremony virtually.
The PTA with Bhutan was the first such agreement Bangladesh signed with any country since its independence in 1971.
It is reported that nearly 100 products from Bangladesh, mainly including clothing products would receive duty-free access to Bhutan.
Meanwhile, Bhutanese exporters would also benefit from tariff elimination for several commodities including wooden furniture, mineral water and food products such as fruits, natural honey, marmalades, etc.
While the bilateral trade volume between the two countries was a little less than $13 million in the fiscal year between 2008 and 2009, however, this amount escalated to $49.65 million between 2018 and 2019.
In the recent years, Bangladesh has been attempting to form Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) and Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with several countries, especially for the benefit of the country’s garment industry, as the Asian country is on track to graduate from of its least developed country (LDC) status in 2024.
A recent study by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) found that the country’s garment exporters will experience a loss of $4 billion, if trade benefits would be removed by the European Union, following the Bangladesh’s graduation to a developing nation in 2024. Â
