Bangladesh is set to put forward some proposals including seeking relaxation of Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) rules of origin during the ensuing Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) meeting, officials said.
The Bangladesh side will also request Chinese entrepreneurs to set up joint venture industries in Bangladesh. Other proposals to be placed before the meeting include setting up of a design institute in the leather sector and a fashion design institute in the readymade garment (RMG) sector etc.
China granted duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) access to 8,549 Bangladeshi products (97 per cent), which may help boost exports while lowering the ballooning bilateral trade imbalance, officials say.
The trade benefit was given by China to Bangladesh as a least developed country (LDC) under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) provisions.
To avail the enhanced benefit, Bangladesh signed a letter of exchange in 2019 and sent it to China for its response. After a long wait, the Chinese finance ministry on June 16 agreed to grant the facility to Bangladesh.
China is the largest trade partner for Bangladesh with annual bilateral commerce totalling over $12.13 billion.
Country’s trade gap with China stood at nearly US$ 11 billion in the last fiscal year (FY20), according to the statistics of the ministry. The Bangladesh-China FOC is likely to be held in Dhaka soon.
The FOC will review various global, regional and sub-regional issues of mutual interests. Issues of bilateral cooperation will also be discussed.
