Trade arrangement with Nepal soon: minister
The federal government will sign a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Nepal within a short time to be able to improve bilateral trade, said Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday.
"Discussion is underway with an increase of countries regarding the signing of trade agreements. This will be good for us in the permanent although it might not exactly appear advantageous for the time being," he said.
Munishi shared the info at the inauguration of the campus of Bangladesh Institute of Plastic material Engineering and Technology in Dhaka's Keraniganj, relating to a news release.
The function was jointly organised by the institute and Bangladesh Plastic Things Makers and Exporters Association. The expansion came more than a month after Bangladesh inked a PTA with Bhutan to guard the trade profit after graduation from minimal developed country position in 2024.
The commerce ministry is negotiating with 11 additional countries and trade blocs like Australia, Japan and Canada for PTA with desire to to secure marketplace access after Bangladesh's LDC graduation.
Dhaka demanded zero-duty entry for 140 goods to Kathmandu in October last year.
Munshi stressed the need for improvement of proficiency and quality of goods to compete found in the global market.
He said plastic industry has huge probable and demand for plastic material goods is increasing daily.
"We must tap this prospect. There is a huge market for plastic goods. We need to gain increased industry share by giving quality and increasing design and efficiency," he said.
The government is providing support for the advancement of plastic goods production industry.
Munshi said Bangladesh once imported plastic goods to meet requirement of export oriented garments sectors.
Now plastic material goods are exported following meeting native demand, he said.
